


The Game of Revenge

by cisco_centric_4ever



Series: Revenge and Neglect [3]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Forced Pregnancy, Forced Relationship, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-15
Updated: 2018-06-16
Packaged: 2019-03-31 15:29:23
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 8
Words: 46,566
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13978065
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cisco_centric_4ever/pseuds/cisco_centric_4ever
Summary: Naruto has been abused by the village for so long that he has grown bored and tired of their antics. The actions of the villagers have taken its toll on the young blond, and he's had enough, even the clan's inaction has brought him to his boiling point. So, with the help of the Kyuubi, he takes his revenge, but instead of striking them directly, he makes a game of it. He already knows a lot of things that he shouldn't, and when the fox tells him the full extent of the villagers betrail to Minato, he uses that knowledge to his advantage. It's been so long since anyone had shown any kindness to the poor Uzumaki that he had not been able to identify the feeling called 'love' anymore. Because of that, and with help from the Kyuubi, Naruto will make the village pay for everything that they have done to him. He'll hit them hard and play with them just as much, and as for the clan heads and their families...well, that's another story.However, in hopes to lessen the impact that the blond is planning to bring the village, Hirruzen offers the blond the one thing he's always wanted. Or, the one thing that he thought the blond always wanted. Will this dave Konoha from Naruto's wrath?





	1. Deals and Summons

"Genin exams, what a waste of time," came the muttering of Naruto Uzumaki as he made his way over to the academy. Or rather, he was dragged there by a one, Iruka Umino, who had just caught the blond after he had just painted the Hokage Monument all the colors of the rainbow. He muttered the words quietly enough that the chunin couldn't hear exactly what he said, just what sounds like a child grumbling to himself because he got caught. 

 

When they reached back inside of the classroom, since Naruto had made him leave the room to track him down, Iruka wanted revenge on the boy. "Okay class, since Uzumaki here decided to test my skills as his instructor today, you all get to take the genin exams over again!" Iruka stated happily as the class groaned at his words.

 

"Nice going Naruto, you're such a baka," stated one girl in purple.

 

"Baka Naruto, this is all your fault," came a girl with pink hair.

 

The rest of the class grumbled about everything being Naruto's fault, and the blond simply rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, ask me if I care," he grumbled as he went up to the front of the class when it was his turn. He really wasn't feeling like playing around in class today, he did want to get back at Iruka for making him the target of everyone's hate, again, so he thought of a way to get back at the stupid chunin. Most would already expect him to do a jutsu that caught Iruka sensei off guard and knock him out for a while, but then again, that's what most people would expect of him. And Naruto didn't want, or like, being so predictable, so, he does the opposite of what was expected of him, he went up to the front of the room, made the needed hand signs, and then transformed into the perfect copy of Sasuke, Sakura, Iruka, and old man Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi. Yes, Naruto transformed into four people all at once, and the class was shocked! There was not one transformed person in the room, but four and it had been done so fast that they didn't realize that it was three jutsu's all at once. First, he had created three Kage bunshins or shadow clones, he then made those two transform into Iruka and Sasuke, while he himself transformed into Sakura, and lastly, he made his third substitute himself for the real Hokage. "Done," Naruto said in a bored voice.

 

Since Hiruzen wasn't expecting this, he looked around at his surroundings and blinked. He saw three sets of identical people in the room, he could also tell that two of these people were shadow clones. Impressed, he cleared his throat, "very well done, Naruto-Kun, but might I ask that the next time you substitute me, try not to do it while I'm getting ready for a meeting, alright?" Hiruzen asked the Naruto that was the closest to him, the Naruto that was closet to him was actually a clone but who cares about details.

 

"NO WAY THE DOBE DID THREE TRANSFORMATIONS AND BROUGHT THE HOKAGE HERE!! HE MUST HAVE CHEATED!!" Came the screams of a certain fangirl.

 

Hiruzen looked over at Sakura, "my, my young lady, aren't you being a bit loud? Naruto-Kun did an excellent job with his jutsus, I'm not sure why you all are still in this lesson now, especially when graduation in the day after tomorrow. But, I digress, there is no way for a person to actually cheat when performing a jutsu, they can only practice." He turned to the Naruto, who had dispelled his clones and changed back into his natural form, he smiled at the blond, "again, excellent work Naruto-Kun, but next time, try not to sub me in if you can, ja ne," he went up in smoke. 

 

Naruto looked at the spot that Hiruzen used to be in, then started walking back to his usual seat in the back row. He ignored all the shouts and glares that everyone sent him, it wasn't anything new, he's gotten these looks, and other, much worse things done to him since he could remember that he was numb to it all. When he got to his seat, he sat down and went to sleep, not even bothering to reciprocate the praise that came from Hinata Hyuuga, his longtime stalker. Though she may not see it that way. In all honesty, Naruto was tired and didn't want anything to do with the human world right now, so he just went to sleep to enter his own.

* * *

**Realm of Shadows**

 

The 'Realm of Shadows' was made my the blond when he found out that he had a mindscape. It was something that he found to be immensely cool at the time when he was only three, uses this realm inside of his mind to train and study since time flowed so slowly here, he was happy that he didn't have to rush to get everything done. When he arrived, in this realm, it was after a harsh beating from the villagers that he didn't want to think about ever again, it was like they crossed a line that wasn't meant to be crossed a long time again and had just made it to his breaking point that night. Naruto had fallen into the deepest sleep that he's ever had in all of his life that night and ended up here, after wondering around this plain of existent for what felt like hours, he came across a hug and dark cave that had bars at the entrance, they were spaced wide enough that he  could easily walk through them, so he did. After he walked in past the bars, he was met with the giant fox that terrorized the village the day he was born and killed any, that day he met the Kyuubi no Yoki and became his first and only student. Since then, he has only had respect for the Kyuubi and would learn from him, and after Naruto turned five, he and the Kyuubi made his mindscape into a real place outside of his body that only he and the Kyuubi could access, that is, unless either one sees fit to allow another to enter this space, they were the only one. 

 

"Sensei, I've returned, may we pick up where we left off last night?" Naruto asked as he got into a stance in front of his sensei, his face serious and determined.

 

"We shall. Prepare yourself kit," Kyuubi said as he transformed into his human form. He was tall and handsome in his late teens to his early twenties, fire red hair and eyes, pale skin and slim frame. He got into a similar stance as Naruto with his legs in a half-way crouch and his hands in the pose of a boxer's fist, "come," he said and the sparing match picked up where they had left it.

 

Kyuubi watched Naruto carefully as he drew each and every strike and parried every hit. He was impressed by the improvements that the boy has made since he started teaching him, though he was sad that the blond is so emotionally damaged that any kindness shown toward him was perceived as something to hurt him later. He wished that he could get Naruto to open up a little more. Instead of being the obedient student he was, he wanted him to came at him and fight back, argue, something that any normal kid would want to do when they were being trained into the ground nearly every hour of the day. Yet, because of all that the villagers have done to him, Naruto does not trust anyone, he obey's the fox's commands because it's what got him to be so strong, hence the skills he showed earlier in class. And since Kyuubi was hundreds of years old, that meant that he had the history of the all the Elemental Nations in his head, plus some information outside of the Elemental Nations. Now that Kyuubi was thinking about it, Naruto was getting very close to his thirteenth birthday. It is well known in the demon realm, even though Kyuubi is not a demon but is made of chakra, he knew that when a child turned thirteen, he or she would be more likely to start a family at this age than at any other. With this thought in mind, Kyuubi stopped the spar.

 

"Kit, sit down, I must tell you something, it is important and I would like to hear your thoughts on the matter." The redhead had said before sitting down on the gray sand of the blond's mindscape, which was what the real shadow realm had looked like when they had first recreated it outside of the blond's mind. It was slightly different now, but that is something for another time.

 

Naruto sat down and waited for what his sensei had to say. Kyuubi nodded, "as you know, you are to turn thirteen soon, and in the demon realm, that is the age that one is most likely to acquire a family of their own. However, there is a difference between demon children and jinturiki children, you are partly human until your thirteenth birthday arrives and the offer is made."

 

"What is this offer, sensei?" Naruto asked.

 

"The offer is what I've already told you, the chance to acquire a family of your own, however, not just that, but since you are mostly human, a deal would be made between you and I. This deal is an offer to become either a half demon or a full demon, making you a Hanyu, a human-demon hybrid. Both offers come with the same family requirements, but there are differences between them. For example, a half-demon would be able to take up to three or four mates at a time and could be of any sex that person wished them to be, and they can make as many offspring as they wished. But, the half-demon can only mate with his selection of mates and will get only one kekkai genki on that day to pass down to their offspring. The full demon, on the other hand, would make it so that you can have up to nine mates of any gender you want, you will have the power to even change the sex of your mate, but that power only comes from your mate's relationship with you." 

 

Naruto was puzzled by this, "what do you mean by that?"

 

Kyuubi had a feeling that this question would come up, so he thought of a way to explain it so that the blond would understand. "To put it simply, as long as you mate is happy with being with you, or at least does not have too many complaints, then you will gain power. The way that this works is that the more mates you have, and the happier they are, the more power you will get from them, this will not harm them in any way, however, you must be careful not to take on too may mates at once, or else you will be overwhelmed. You also don't have to worry about age because demons do not care about such things, even though I am not one, we bijuu do live by the demon realm laws to some degree. Understand?" He asked, Naruto nodded, "good, now then, as for your other powers, I suggest that you find a place to train that will not draw too much attention to you, since the more mates you have, the stronger you will get and that kind of power will be easily detected if not kept in check. On your birthday, you will get to pick the kekkai genki that you want, it can either be an existing one or a new one. Once you tell me about it, I will make it happen and then you will be able to use them, but can only pass down one at a time through your mates, depending on how may offspring that mate births at one time."

 

Naruto sat there to let all of the information sink in, he then looked up at Kyuubi. "How would I go about getting these...mates? Do you have any tips for me, sensei?"

 

Kyuubi thought before answering, "yes, I also have some suggestions on who you approach first," he states.

 

"Oh? Who?" Naruto asked because he didn't really go out of his way to socialize with the kids in his class, they ignored him, he ignored them. Well, unless he felt like bugging someone, and that's the only time he's loud and obnoxious to anyone, but that was all an act. From what the blond has seen so far, no one seems to notice it was an act, nor have they made any sign of caring if it was. 

 

"I suggest that you approach that Hyuuga girl's cousin, he seems like he would make a fine mate to start off with," Kyuubi smiled. 

 

Naruto nodded, "yes, sensei, but from what I have gathered on the Hyuuga clan, that girl's cousin in a year older than I am. Making him thirteen and a genin already, maybe chunin now since it's been a whole year since he was last in the academy. It would be hard to get to him when he's always on missions the way he is, plus, people may take notice if he suddenly becomes my mate."

 

Kyuubi nodded, his student makes a good point, "yes, that is true, although he is a year older than you, that does not mean all is lost. Remember I told you, age does not matter, and neither does his ninja status." Naruto seemed to be a little confused by this, but knew that his sensei would explain it to him, "you see Naruto, that boy, what was his name? Neji?" Naruto nodded, "Neji comes from the side branch of the Hyuugas."

 

"Why does that not matter? Are they not of the same clan and bloodline?" The blond asked.

 

Kyuubi shook his head, "that is not the point, they are from the same clan and blood, however, from a few decades ago, the Hyuuga clan had drawn a line down the middle of their own clan. They pick and choose who can be on what side of that line and have made a seal that will identify who was on the other side of the line so no confusion was made later on. That seal has plagued the Hyuuga clan's growth ever since then and has made them arrogant and hardheaded. They marry their own cousins to keep their bloodline pure, in fact, I would not put it past them now to already have that boy and his cousin marry once she reaches genin." He explained in a bored tone, "but, we can use that to our advantage."

 

"How?" Naruto asked.

 

Kyuubi reached over to Naruto and lightly whacked him on the head, "listen kit, I just explained this and you need to get back to reality soon or someone might think something wrong with you." 

 

Naruto held his head on reflex, even though he has already grown numb to the pain the villagers have caused him over the years. But Kyuubi's hit still sort of hurt, it was one of the reasons why Naruto respected the fox so much, he was the only one that can make him feel anything anymore. "My apologies, sensei, I will keep all question to the end from now on." 

 

 _"He sounds like some kind of robot or something,"_  Kyuubi frowned but nodded, "like I said before. The Hyuuga's are divided and filled with spite if you offer him a way out of that, and into something better, then you could probably save him from dying as a servant to his own blood. More importantly, it would make waves in the Hyuuga clan and might calm them down a bit, from what I've heard of the boy, he's a prodigy among them. Even though he was marked as a side branch member. Next, you should get the Nara boy, he would be one of the easiest to start with, he's lazy but smart. You can either start f with him or Neji, it really doesn't matter, but since he's sitting right in front of you today, you can always go after him first and then that Neji boy." Kyuubi thought of any other's that he could think of, "I think that would be all my suggestions, for now anyway, also, once you have a minimum of three or four mates, you will gain the power to recreate you mates however you want. Anyway questions?"

 

Naruto nodded, "two," Kyuubi nodded so he continued, "first off, will I have to wait for my thirteenth birthday to impregnate any of my mates?"

 

"No," Kyuubi answered, "even though thirteen is the age that a demon child would most likely acquire his own family, you can start before then. The birth date is when the ritual will take place and you will be transformed."

 

Naruto thought that over since he's only had one question left, he felt he could just ask about that later. "Last question, what will be the side effects of all of this, if there are any, and how will it affect me and my life in the village?"

 

Kyuubi thought about that for a moment, "other than gaining power from your mates, you will have more of my features, meaning ears and a tail. You will also get a summoning scroll, that, in itself is not bad, but because of it, your mindset will change to become more fox-like. I will explain more on that when the time comes. Also, with the summoning scroll, you get another kekkai genki, making four in total out of the three that you would be getting if you choose to be a full demon. Two if you choose to be a half-demon, the choice is yours. Lastly, the other side effects that would come from our deal would be the need to have sex and then a heat."

 

"A heat?" Naruto asked curiously, wondering what that was about.

 

"A heat is simply when your body develops the need to get pregnant or impregnate your mates. But in your case, you will give off a pheromone subconsciously and your mates will be the ones to go through the heat once they accept you as their one true mate." Kyuubi explained, "now I think that that will be enough for now, do you accept my offer? You still have time since you do not need to answer until the date of your birth, but answering before will help you adjust better. Also, I can get started with the process sooner, so, what is your answer kit?"

 

"I accept, I want to be a full demon and rebuild the Uzumaki clan," Naruto said without hesitation. He had been told about the clan that his mother had come from when he was only four and was told how it was destroyed, he didn't know by whom though. 

 

Kyuubi nodded his head again, accepting his answer, "understood, the process has begun, you should see the changes no later than either tonight or tomorrow. Now get back to class, it looks like that chunin is trying to wake you up," he said before pushing the blond out of his own mind.

* * *

**Academy**

 

Iruka had been teaching his students about the different types of jutsus that the academy teachers and how they are used and what they can be used for. It was only three jutsus that they taught in the academy and one one of them were just useless in the field. But he didn't complain, as long as he did his job and taught what was he was supposed to, he was fine with it. Though, sometimes he did try to make it challenging for the ones that came from ninja families and wasn't here to dick around. Iruka had just finished his lecture and called for a lunch break when he noticed that Naruto had yet to run out of the room to annoy any of his pears, Iruka got curious about that and walked over to the blond. He reached a hand to the blond's shoulder to wake him up but then the sleeping Uzumaki shot up like a rocket, wide awake and ready to go. Iruka would not admit that he was startled. He looked closely at the blond, he seemed to be thinking deeply and about something that was unpleasant if the frown on his whiskered face said anything about it.

 

Iruka frowned at him and looked sternly into the boy's eyes, "Uzumaki, you should not sleep in class, you just missed the review we just did on the academy three. Do I need to give you detention so you can learn your lesson to stay awake in the class young man?"

 

Naruto turned bored eyes to the man that seemed to stare deeply into his very soul, making Iruka uncomfortable. When it seemed like Naruto was not going to answer, Iruka was about to speak again, but then the blond spoke, "why do you care? Nara-san sleeps in your class all the time and you don't yell at him half as much as you do me. Are you showing favoritism or something, Iruka sensei?" Naruto asked as he got up from his seat and started to walk out the door, not even waiting for the chunin to answer, he was almost to the door when Iruka took hold of his shoulder, "yes?" He asked without turning around.

 

Iruka didn't know why, but as he looked into Naruto's eyes, it felt as though he was staring at something...broke, hurt? He wasn't sure which it was, but the boy in his grasp was clearly not the energetic boy he's known for so many years, the boy that always tries to skip class and prank everyone. "Um, Uz-Naruto-san, would you like to get lunch together?' He asked, unsure why he was even asking, then he quickly thought of a way to cover up the confusion of his own question, "I mean, every time I call for lunch, I don't see you with a lunch box. Not even lunch money, so I was just w-"

 

Save your money, Iruka sensei, I can't afford lunch so I go without," Naruto simply stated.

 

"What? But doesn't anyone taking care of you give you money?" Iruka asked slightly shocked.

 

"I take care of myself, and the only money I have mostly go towards rent and household items." Naruto said in a bored voice, "excuse me, I am going to get my lunch now."

 

Iruka was stunned by that, "but you said that you didn't have-"

 

"I said I go without lunch, that does not mean that I go without food, Iruka sensei," Naruto said as he walked out of Iruka's weakened grasp.

 

Iruka was confused, "then how..."

 

Naruto was getting irritated by this man who would not let him go, there was a limited time for lunch and he had to be quick, now that the time had been cut short. He turned to Iruka with an unhappy frown, "I hunt," he then made a hand sign and disappeared in a swirl of leaves. Leaving behind a shocked Iruka.

* * *

**Forest of death**

 

Naruto was making his way through the forest of death, he had just finished sealing away most of his winnings from his hunt here and was looking for one last prey to take home with him. He had gotten two healthy sized rabbits, a large duck, and a deer, he also got a lot of fruits and herbs to fill his secret supply room for a few months. He can never just have his food and other personal items out in this home for all to see, so when Kyuubi started teaching him, one of the first things he learned was sealing. He managed to take the lessons to heart, mastering the art when he was only ten years old, and after that, he started experimenting with his knowledge of seals. The secret supply room was the results of one of these said experiments, it was only one room so far, and the seal for the room was removable so he could actually take the room with him if he wished to do so. However, recently, he has been playing with the idea of making his very own secret home with seals, sort of like how he made his supply room, but much, much bigger. Naruto was almost to the center of the forest when he heard the distinct sound of someone throwing something and an animal being hurt, curiosity was always something that plagued him, so he followed the sound to a sizable clearing where he saw a man in jonin wear deafening himself against a larger than a normal tiger. Naruto never cared for leaf ninjas, there were almost always the ones that headed the mobs that attacked him on his birthday, so he was going to leave the jonin to whatever fate me may have coming to him. But he stopped, a strange scent caught his nose that he didn't like, he saw the jonin take out another throwing weapon when he caught the smell again. It was poison. There is a lot of things that Naruto would look passed, but animal cruelty was not one of them, neither was child molesters, but that is a story for another time. 

 

Getting angry at the jonin, Naruto jumped down behind the man and took out poisoned Kuni of his own. He snuck up to the man, letting his chakra blend in with the nature around them before he struck the jonin in the back of his shoulder, forcing him to drop the weapon he was holding. The jonin turned around to see who it was that dared to strike him when he saw Naruto, "my, my if it isn't my lucky day, the Kyuubi brat has come to me so I can kill it!" He cheered to himself happily and prepared to take out another weapon with his good hand before trying to strike down the blond.

 

Naruto was not about to allow that to happen, so he took out a katana from a seal on a hidden wristband he was wearing. He held the katana so it blocked the jonin's strike without breaking eye contact with the man. "This isn't your lucky day..." Naruto said as he pushed back the jonin's hand so he was unbalanced before the blond moved forward with blinding speed and impaled the man on his blade. The jonin was in shock, he couldn't believe that he was first, defeated by a kid that didn't even make genin, yet, and second, that he was going to be killed by the Kyuubi brat. Naruto smirked when the man spit up blood, "but it is mine," he said as he roughly pulled out his blade from the man's midsection, he didn't hit any vital organs on purpose, he watched the man fall to the ground in shock. "You have about ten minutes to live before you bleed to death, if you hurry, you  _might_ make it to the hospital in time for them to save your pathetic life. He didn't wait for the man to reply as he stepped over him to get to the tiger, now that he was closer to the tiger, he could see that the being was almost as large as a minivan. His fur was a dark orange with prominent strips all over his body, his eyes were a golden color that Naruto thought looked majestic but before he could take a step closer, the tiger collapsed into a laying position. "You can relax now, I took care of him..." Naruto stated in a strong voice to let the tiger know that he was no pushover, but also not a threat to him. Before Naruto could say anything else, the tiger collapsed, he panicked and rushed to its aid, his hands glowed for few moments as he checked the large animal's condition.

 

The tiger silently watched the blond as he worked, taking care to remove all of the poisonous weapons from his body before taking out supplies to make medicine. The tiger tried to lift his head up to get a better look at the young human boy, but he couldn't, whatever poison that other human had used had severely weakened him. He growled in frustration, Naruto looked up at the tiger, "don't worry, I am making some medicine for you now. I have enough supplies for it, buy it will take a few minutes to make, please hold on until I'm done, okay?" He spoke softly to the tiger, the genuine care that came from his voice was enough to satisfy the tiger and make his decision then and there. 

 

" **Boy, what is your name?"** The tiger asked in a gruff voice.

 

Naruto looked back up at the tiger when it spoke, he had never met an animal that could speak before. He was in shock, but let it go, "Naruto Uzumaki," he answered.

 

The tiger looked at the boy for a moment, watching his every movement as he went back to work. The blond worked quickly, but carefully as well,  **"you are a strong-willed boy,"** the tiger spoke again.  **"Tell me, who are your parents, they must be proud,"** he said and watched the boy freeze, he was confused by that, but the Naruto spoke before he could ask.

 

"I never knew my parents, I'm an orphan," Naruto started as he slowly got back to work on the medicine. "But," he continued, "I heard that they were strong, that they saved this village many times over, and that their last wish was for their child to be seen as a hero. I was told that their names were Minato Namikaze, the Yondime Hokage and the yellow flash, and Kushina Uzumaki, the princess of Uzushiogakiri and the Red Hot Habinyaro. They both died the day that I was born, the night that the Kyuubi no Yoki attacked this village," he explained as he started to finish the medicine. 

 

The tiger took in this information, storing it for later,  **"I knew of them."** He simply said as the blond finished the medicine and held it up to the tiger's mouth, he drank it the best he could. The medicine's effects started working almost instantly and the tiger felt it move throughout his systems, destroying the poison that was left behind by the weapons he was attacked with. Taking a deep breath, he forced himself up onto his front legs and looked into the boy's deep blue eye,  **"you have saved my life, I am indebted to your everlasting kindness,"** he bowed his head a little towards Naruto.

 

The blond shook his head, "no, that does not matter to me, I did this because I wanted to," he said waving off the tiger's praise.

 

 **"If that is the case, then you shall make a great summoner to my clan,"** the tiger said as his tail reached behind him to pick up something. He brought his tail forward to reveal a large scroll of dark and light orange,  **"this is my summoning contract when you arrived, that other human was trying to force it from me. He wanted my clan to serve him, it seems that he had heard of my clan from somewhere before, but I doubt that he knew very much about us or else he would have left me alone. He did not seem very smart."**

 

Naruto shook his head, "I would have to agree with you on that one, big guy, this village is filled with idiots. Every day they seemed to become dumber and dumber, but since I am just one dumb kid, no one cares about what I say."

 

The tiger chuckled,  **"it seems that they are truly stupid indeed, even us tigers know that there is some wisdom to be gained from even the youngest of children. If they could only open their eyes and see, I am sure they would learn,"** he set the scroll down in front of the young blond.  **"Draw blood from your fingers then write your name, when you're done, place your fingerprint at the bottom and it will complete the contract, when you're done, try summoning the highest member of my clan. You can not summon me right now since I am already here, so the second highest will do."**

 

Naruto nodded his head and unrolled the scroll in front of him, finding a blank spot next to his father's name, he bit his thumb and drew blood. He wrote his name like the tiger told him to and did the hand signs to summon a member of the clan, having seen one of his ANBU guards do them before. He slammed his hand down on the ground and a summoning circle appeared under it for a split second before a poof was heard and another tiger appeared before him. This time, however, the tiger was only as big enough to reach Naruto knee's, he had golden fur that faded to orange in some places making it look as if it was on fire when the light hit him just right. This tigers eye was different from the first, it had one gold while the other was only light brown, he bowed when he saw the larger tiger,  **"Otou-sama, did you call for me?"** He asked politely. 

 

 **"No, Shizo, I have just made a contract with this human boy, he summoned you,"** the larger tiger explained before turning to Naruto.  **"This is my son, Shizo, he is next in line to be the head of the Tiger Clan, you did well."** He turned back to his son,  **"this is Naruto, he is the last Namikaze and Minato's son, you will serve him well."**

 

 **"Hai, Otou-sama, I will,"** Shizo bowed to his father.

 

 **"Good, I have healed enough here to travel back to the summoning real, I will heal faster there."** He turned his eyes to Naruto,  **"from now on, Shizo will be your personal familiar. You can summon him anytime you want and will be allowed to summon other's of my clan whenever you need assistance in battle or otherwise. We are not loyal to a village like other summonses, but to you and your cubs. You may also allow you mates to sign their names as well, but only if you feel that they are worthy of it, farewell, little Uzumaki."** He then disappeared in a puff of smoke, leaving the new summoner and his summons to get to know each other.

 

Naruto looked down at the large scroll in front of him, he bends down and rolled it up, then he turned his attention to Shizo who was watching him intently. "You hungry?" He asked which got Shizo's tail wagging and Naruto smiled, "let's go hunting then, I'm going to need some more supplies if you're going to come live with me." 

 

 **"Sweet, I'm the best hunter in my age group! I'll catch a lot for you master!"** Shizo cheered happily as he jumped up and down excitedly, Naruto could only guess that the kid liked hunting back in his home, and if he said he was the best, then he would take his word for it.

 

"Alright, let's hurry," Naruto said as he placed the large scroll on his back with the help of some string to secure it. The duo then jumped off into the woods once Naruto was sure that he removed all traces of himself from the area. He faintly noticed that the man he stabbed when he got here was still there laying in his own blood, he wondered why for a moment before remembering that he had dropped his katana blade in a batch of his most lethal poisons the day before.  _"Oops, I forgot about that, oh well, he's already tried to kill me about seven times this year alone, he must have just been promoted and wanted to show off to his friends or something. What a shame he wasted his life doing such a thing,"_ Naruto shook his head at the thought as the man's body disappeared from his view.

* * *

 

**Academy**

 

It has been almost an hour and a half since the end of the lunch break and Iruka was wondering where Naruto was. He was in the middle of a lecture on history when the sliding door at the back of the room opened up. Everyone turned around to see who it was and was not surprised to see Naruto walking into the room looking as if he had just gotten into a fight with someone, it was a common occurrence to them anyway. Seeing as how most of them were the cause of it a lot of the time. Yet, they were surprised to see a large tiger cub walking in alongside Naruto, both were smiling happily as they made their way over to Naruto's seat, the tiger cub sitting down next to him since no one sat next to Naruto. 

 

"Um, Naruto-san, what are you doing with that tiger cub?" Iruka asked, still looking between Naruto and the cub.

 

Naruto looked at Iruka, "we're hanging out," he said losing interest in the class as a whole.

 

"HAY DOBE, ANIMALS AREN'T ALLOWED IN CLASS!!" Came the scream of a certain pink haired...person.

 

Naruto turned bored eyes on the girl, "then why does Kiba get to have a dog with him?" 

 

"BECAUSE THAT'S A NINKEN, A NINJA DOG, YOU BAKA!!" She screamed at him.

 

Naruto cleaned his ears with his pinky, "okay, then why are you here?" He asked smoothly, referring to Sakura as if she herself was an animal, which in his mind wasn't much of a far-fetched idea. 

 

The pinkette growled at the blond and was about to get up from her seat and strangle him, when Iruka spoke up, "that's enough Haruno-san, please take a seat. Naruto-san, please apologize for-"

 

"Why should I? She started it, and I was simply asking her a question, I have taken notice of everyone's abilities. From what I've seen, if it wasn't for her smarts, she would be at the bottom of the class and make Kiba look like a genius." This got a laugh from most of the students in the class, causing Sakura to growl at the blond, Naruto does not care what so ever about her reaction and continued. "But if you want to prejudices, be my guest," Naruto said tiredly as he laid his head down on the desk for a nap and blocking out the world around him. The class went on almost as if nothing happened after Iruka got the class to calm down once more and then got back to his lesson, there were some kids that looked back at Naruto or the cub, but did and said nothing otherwise. Irka made a mental note to talk to Naruto after class, meanwhile, Mizuki was looking at the tiger cub with interest, unlike the others in the room, he's heard of the tiger clan and how powerful they were, this made him think of a way to get their summoning contract into his own hands. He only needed to get Naruto out of the way to do it.

* * *

 

**After school**

 

The final bell had finally rung, signaling the end of the school day. It also signaled the end of Naruto's nap, he got up and stretched a little and looked around the room. People were still staring at him as if he had kicked someone's puppy or something, but he didn't care. They were always angry at him for some reason or another, so why try to find out all of their reasoning? Naruto got up and was about to walk out of the room when Iruka's voice called out to him, he stopped short of the door and turned to face the chunin while some people lingered in the class, trying to see if they could see how the dobe of their class would be scolded by their teacher. But Iruka gave them a look that told them to leave before they get into trouble and they left, once the room was finally empty except for Naruto, Iruka, and the tiger cub.

 

"Now Naruto-san, I don't know where you got this cub, but I think you should return it from where ever you got it before the mother comes into the village looking for her child. You wouldn't want its mother to become sad because you took her cub away, now would you, Naruto-san?" Iruka asked sternly but softly as he stared at Naruto.

 

Naruto just blinked his eyes at the man, making Iruka feel as if he might have said something wrong. "Iruka sensei, this is my summons, Shizo-chan, Shizo-chan, this is my sensei, Iruka Umino," Naruto introduced them.

 

Shizo looked from Naruto to the human with a scar on his face,  **"Konichiwa, Umino-san,"** Shizo said with a slight bow. 

 

Iruka had not met too many summonses before, but he was surprised to find that there was actually a tiger summons. He had only heard of them through stories and rumors before now. Iruka smiled, "nice to meet you too, Shizo-chan, you can just call me Iruka-san if you like." The tiger nodded, Iruka then turned back to Naruto with a puzzled look in his eye, "how did you manage to get a tiger summons, do you know how powerful they are?"

 

"I saved the boss from some bastard during lunch and then went hunting for more food, that'ss why I was so late before," Naruto explained.

 

"Wait, so you actually do go hunting for your food?" Iruka asked slightly alarmed at the news.

 

Naruto nodded, "yep, we can't all have homemade lunch boxes made for us each morning. But at least hunting is better than looking for food in the trash again," he shrugged his shoulders as if they were talking about the weather. Iruka was a little worried about Naruto's nonchalant about the subject, "so, sensei, is there anything else you wanted to talk about?"

 

"Uh, oh right, um, maybe you should get Shizo-chan registered by the co-" Iruka started but Naruto's frown made him stop.

 

"With all due respect, sensei, I would rather not, the council and I are not on good terms. They tend to make me want to kill them all whenever I'm alone in the room with them, but over the years, I have been able to keep myself from murdering them. I will last up to half an hour at a time with them at most, more than that would be pushing it." Naruto explained, "if that's all, I'm leaving, good day sensei," he said as he walked out of the door with Shizo following him silently.

* * *

**Outside the academy**

 

Naruto was just making it out to the front of the academy building and then onto the gates when suddenly the Emo Prince came alone to block his way. "What do you want, teme?" Naruto asked indifferently to the boy.

 

"Hay dobe, why don't you do yourself a favor and hand over the summoning contract for that cub?" Sasuke said with a smirk on his face, his fangirls swooned at his attitude, while Naruto and Shizo raised an eyebrow each, "he may be small know, but if what I heard is true, then he'll be big and strong in no time. So hand it over now and maybe you I'll consider you my associate from now on," his fangirls squealed ungodly loud when he was done talking, saying things like 'Sasuke-Kun's so cool' and 'I want to have his babies' or whatever. Naruto was still unimpressed by his display of 'coolness' and walked right passed him and his fans, managing to make it out of the gate and a little way down the street before Sasuke's ego allowed him to see that the blond was no longer in front of him.

 

Down the street, Naruto was still walking with Shizo when he felt a presence following him.  **"I think one of your sensei are following, along with a girl from your class,"** Shizo informed him. 

 

"I know, let's just keep walking, if he has anything real to say to me, I'll listen, if not, then we ignore him completely understand?" Naruto asked as he kept his eyes forward on the road ahead of him.

 

Not too long after Naruto's command did a silver-haired chunin came walking up next to the blond. "Oh Naruto-san, it's good to see you again," Mizuki stated as he walked up next to Naruto. Naruto didn't respond, Mizuki continued on still, ignoring the fact that Naruto was ignoring him, "say, I've noticed that you taijutsu needed a little work, mind if I give you some pointers?" He asked, no response, "how about with your studies? Could I help you with that instead hmm? I was at the top of my class in that area after all," still, no response from the blond. Mizuki was starting to get mad when he thought of something else he could use, "or maybe you would get some  extra point for the genin exams coming up the day after tomorrow?" 

 

Naruto paused when he heard that, he already suspected the man of wrongdoing, now this made him more aware of him because of such an offer to help and to help _him_ of all people. He knew something was up right away, but still, he went along with it anyway, he could get something out of this, then he would listen, but that's it, and he was going to make sure that Mizuki paid for any trouble he would inevitably cause the blond in the future because of whatever help he was trying to offer the boy. 

 

Naruto turned towards the man, "I'm listening."

 

TO BE CONTINUED...


	2. Genin

Naruto awoke the next day with a bit more ease, he was in a happier mood today, why? Because last night he and the Kyuubi came up with a plan to both of his mates. He may not be able to get all nine or so mates all at once, but Kyuubi told him that he could always get two mates at a time, if he wanted to that is. Though, it was not always advisable because even adjusting to one mate was a bit trying at times what with the new bond and their emotions being connected to each other. Have all nine would take time to get used to. Because he would feel all of their emotions flow through him and would have to differentiate between them all if he ever wanted to get to the root of their individual problems, so taking it one or even two at a time was best. Naruto's plan still required him to take them one at a time, but he would have two mates before the end of next week, but for now, he had to get to school. With a very rare smile that no one ever really got to see, other than the Sandime who has only seen it once or twice since he's known Naruto, he got out of bed and got ready for the day. He got into the bathroom and turned on the water, he took off his clothes and got a bucket from under his bathroom sink and put it under the stream of the water flowing from the shower, letting the bucket gets filled with water. Once he did that, he walked out the bathroom, without a towel because it was his house, and got started on making breakfast. When he was almost done cooking some of the deer meat he got while hunting with Shizo, said tiger walked out of his bedroom with a small roar of a yawn, Naruto would admit that it was sort of a cute look on him. 

 

"Morning Shizo-chan, would you like some breakfast?" Naruto asked as he turned back to the stove to finish the meet, he already cooked the rice and side dish of vegetables, and he had a small fire jutsu making tea at the sent of the table with the help of a seal so the table would not burn. 

 

Shizo grumbled his answer and sat at the table to await his meal sleepily. When he smelled a plate of meat being set down before him, he opened his eyes to say thank you but they widened in shock instead.  **"Whoa! How did you hide that thing in your pants yesterday?"** Shizo declared as he stared at Naruto's dick.

 

Naruto looked down at his dick and shrugged his shoulders before sitting down with his own plate of meat to go with his bowl of rice. "With a seal that Kyuubi sensei taught me, but it's not really all that big, only nine and a half inches, sensei says that I'm still growing." He took a bit of his rice, "he also said that once I go through with the ritual, it's going to get even bigger than the average human male, so it's whatever," he shrugged again as the teapot whistled, he poured himself a cup before looking at Shizo, "would you like a cup, or should I get you something else?"

 

Shizo shook himself out of his stupor,  **"uuh, I'll just put some milk in mine and wait for it to cool before I drink it."** Naruto nodded and picked up the bowl that he took out for Shizo and poured some milk into it, along with a bit of honey before pouring the tea, then gave it to the Shizo. Shizo nodded, he sniffed it,  **"thank you, it smells really go, did you make it?"**

 

Naruto nodded, "yeah, sensei gave me a lesson on how to just about everything in my life. When I was still three and looking for a place to live where the villagers wouldn't get to me, I found a really nice place in the forest where I stayed in for a while before the Sandime found out what the orange did to me. It was there where Kyuubi taught me how to make stuff to eat. One lesson he taught me was how to make and detect poison in my food and drinks," he said with a small smile on his face, he then made a clone to go turn off the water in the shower for him as he continued. "He also made me immune to poison by making me poison myself in small douses."

 

 **"What! But isn't that dangerous?"** Shizo asked with a piece of meat hanging from the side of his mouth, some rice stuck to his mouth as well.

 

Naruto nodded, "yes, he said it was, but at the time I really didn't care, so I took all the poisons we had gathered one night and ate them. I didn't bother mixing them with food, thinking that it would be better for me if I just put them all in one bowl, crushed them up, add water, and then drink it all down to the last drop. The poisons I used were some of the most deadliest poisons known to man, and I ate them all before I even turned four," he chuckled a bit at that.

 

The sound was a little sad to Shizo's ear, almost as if...  **"why did you do that?"** Shizo asked worried about his new summoner's mental health.

 

Naruto's smile faded a little at the question, he looked Shizo in his mismatch eyes and said, "because I just wanted the pain to stop..."

 

Silence fell over the room then, the two stared at each other for a while before Naruto went back to eating his food like nothing ever happened. Shizo stared at Naruto for a long time before he too went back to eating his own food, his mind filled with thoughts. Thoughts about Naruto, about Kyuubi, how Kyuubi helped the blond out so much when his own kind didn't even lift a finger to help him. Well, they did lift a finger, but it seemed that it was only to hurt him, not help him. Then he thought about the deal and ritual that Naruto was going to be going through within a few months, Naruto explained it to him like the Kyuubi did, at first the little tiger cub had no clue what to say to that. He thought that it was something odd for a human to agree to, even though he was not seen as a human in the villager's eyes, he still was one, and Shizo now knew that Naruto was more human than anyone in this village combined. After hearing Naruto's words just now, Shizo decided that yes, Naruto should go through with the ritual, if not because of power, then because of love. Shizo didn't really know what it was like to be hated by your own kind, people that you were supposed to trust with your well being at an early age, but he did know what it was like to have love in his life. Love made you strong, made you brave, makes you feel like you can do everything and anything, even when those around you say you can't. In Shizo's eyes, love for Naruto would be like having hope for the future, his future. So with a smile on his face, Shizo looked up at Naruto,  **"you know what Naruto-san?"**

 

"Hm, what's that Shizo-chan?" Naruto asked as he took up some vegetables with his chopsticks.

 

Shizo's smile brightened,  **"I'm gonna help you find your mates and help you take care of them all. Even though you don't think of them more than just people to carry on your name, you need still need someone to hang onto, and if you can find them out there someone. People that can look at you and see you, then you deserve that, and you should hold onto it with both hands. And when you find those people, I will be by your side to protect them with you, for as long as I live!"** Shizo exclaimed happily as he swayed his tail from side to side happily.

 

This declaration gave Naruto pause, he has never seen anyone declared to be by his side forever, it made his heart feel sort of...funny? He didn't know what it was, but it was a nice feeling, albeit a new one, but nice all the same. His smile returned to his lips, "thank you, and I will do the same for, as long as I live."

 

The two smiled at each other and returned to eating their meal in silence. It was a lighter silence than before, and before either of them knew anything, the meal was over and Naruto was back in the bathroom. The blond did a few hand signs to make a fire jutsu that would warm the water in his bucket, the water in his building was always cold, it was like the owner got it from an ice-cube just so he could run it directly into Naruto's pipes when he got ready to use it. But the water in the bathroom shower and the water that came from the skins of the apartment was two different thing. While the shower water was extremely cold, the water that came from the sink was always dirty, no matter which one he used, on some days, the water from the sink would appear to be black in color and smell really bad, like hot garbage or something. It was obviously not meant for drinking, more like something you torture people with, he didn't know how that was allowed, but when he brought it up to the owner when he was five, he got cursed out for it. After that, he only used the water in his shower for water he needed water for, boiling, bathing, cooking, watering plants, practicing chakra manipulation. You name it, he used it. As so, his toilet never worked, he brought that up to the owner to and got the same reaction, the toilet seemed to have stopped working a few days after he moved into the building and it was never fixed. It wasn't really an issue though since Naruto was used to going to the bathroom outside, what with his many years of mistreatment. No one wanted a demon using their restroom, after all, so outside was really is the only option...that is, until he came across the place he told Shizo about. The place was big, bigger than any house he had seen in the village, it had lots of rooms, an about two kitchens from what he could tell, a training ground big enough to fit a normal sized compound. There were trees that bared different fruit, there was also some trees there that he didn't see in any other part of the village, it was surrounded by nature and genjutsu, but the best part about it was that it was far, far away from the village. He thought that he had left the village completely when he found it, was so peacefully there that he wanted to stay forever, but knew that if he did, he might attract people to the place and they would want to burn it down. With that thought in mind, Naruto kept watching over the place when he could without drawing people's attention to it. What's more, this place gave him a familiar feeling that he liked very much. It was comfortable, it held his attention with all the detailing that went into it, and he was sure that whoever built it wouldn't want it to just sit there, unused. 

 

 **"My, my, so you're thinking of that place again, are you, Kit?"** Kyuubi's gruff voice came through their link.

 

Naruto nodded as he finished washing up with his now warm water,  _"yeah, I like that place, it's so big that it reminds me of a castle or something. Like the one in the books that I used to read. I want to live there, but I don't want people to bother me while I'm there...it's the only place in the village that makes me feel like I belong."_

 

Kyuubi was silent for a moment, then he spoke with an air of finality,  **"then we'll just have to move in."**

 

 _"Move in?"_ Naruto asked the fox.

 

Kyuubi nodded,  **"yes, we're going to become a genin soon anyway. Why not ditch this place and move into the one you really want, which is that one. Look, it's clear that you like that place way more than this shitty apartment, and since you'll have quite a few wives in the coming future, maybe more if you live long enough, you will need a place to house them all. Trust me, once you make a bond with your mates, you will not be able to leave their side for too long for at least the first month or two. Not to mention that you will have the urge to fuck the shit out of them every chance you can get, and with a place like that with so much room, with your only neighbors being animals, why not?"**

 

Naruto thought about this for a moment,  _"well, it sounds good enough to me. I'll pack my things today after schools out,"_ he said as he rinsed himself off. Naruto left his bathroom with a clean towel, he was drying himself off when he felt eyes on his back. He turned to his bedroom window and saw two villagers standing in the street below, glaring up at him,  _"on second thought, I'll do it now."_

 

 **"Wise choice kit, you can use the sealing technique I showed you,"** Kyuubi said with a proud smile. He was happy with his work, Naruto was turning into a fine shinobi, which was probably why the villagers have increased their hatred of him, going so far as to attack him in his own home in the middle of the day and the early hours of dawn. If it wasn't for him, well, he didn't want to think about that. Those humans may have called him a bloodthirsty monster, but as far as anyone was concerned, if they heard a fraction of what they did, the villagers would have clearly been seen as the monsters.

 

Naruto dried off completely and tossed his towel into the dirty clothes pile, he liked to do his laundry once a week at a time he knew that the villagers would not bother him. He got out a few sealing scrolls and started sealing things away in them. One scroll would hold his dirty clothes, another would hold his clean ones, another would have his shoes, another held his towels, bed covers, sheets, pillowcases, and blankets, another scroll had his pots, pans, and other kitchen utensils. Lastly, anything else he would need or would like to move to his new home with him, like his books, scrolls, manuals, and journals, were held in another scroll. All the scrolls were colored coated, clothes were pink, dark pink for clean, light for dirty, scream for shoes, blue was for bathroom stuff, yellow for bedroom stuff, orange for the kitchen, green for personal items, and brown for anything that he wanted to throw away. Once he was done, he took up the clothes that he laid out for himself before packing and put them on, he dressed casually today in clothes that he actually liked, not that ugly bright orange that people thought he liked so much. Orange was okay, but never so bright, burnt orange was his favorite out of all the orange shades. He wore a black muscle tank top, black longsleeved mesh shirt, dark brown baggy pants, burnt orange bomber jacket, and black boots, he wore a burnt orange beany that hung off his head a little. Looking at himself in the mirror, he decided that he would buy more of his clothes in henge seeing as how he had better taste than the store owner that sold him his orange jumpsuits, overpriced remembered. Once he was dressed, Naruto looked around the apartment, he had sealed away everything that was not bolted to the floor. He decided, while he was packing, that he would pay back the building owner for his 'generosity' for taking such 'good' care of him over the years. The apartment as a whole should have been condemned a long time ago, but since he was living there, they decided to give him this place and overcharge him for the rent, as if he wouldn't have figured it out. Honestly, if he wasn't taught by Kyuubi, he was sure that he was still be on a third-grade reading level, thanks to the fox, he was able to read books within the hour, even though Kyuubi said that he was already able to read that well. It was true though, but Naruto liked to give credit where it was due, if it wasn't for Kyuubi, he wouldn't understand how to read when he was four/five. After looking over the rotted floorboards, leaking ceiling, cracked windows, and graffitied walls over again, he knew that he would not miss this place one bit. He walked over to his closet and took up a wooden chest that the Sandime once gave him when he was five that allowed him to store his keepsakes inside, he opened it and started putting his scrolls in. He had long since put a seal within the chest that made it bigger on the inside (DW reference), he could put half a house in the chest and still have room for a tea set. When all the scrolls, except one, was in the chest, he took the scroll that had all the things that he didn't want to take with him and placed it on the counter in a spot that would have the evening sun shine on it when the time came. Making sure he didn't forget anything, he left the apartment, leaving the door unlocked and unguarded unlike how he usually left it when he was going out, and made his way towards the forest. It was still early, he could make it to class within an hour if he wanted to anyway, so he was not worried. 

 

 **"Hey, Naruto-san, where are we going? Don't you have to go to school now?"** Shizo asked as he followed Naruto through the back allies of Konoha and into the forest.

 

"Yeah, but I could always make it there quickly if I put my mind to it," Naruto stated as they got to the forest. He took off through the trees with the chest in his hands, it weighed almost nothing thanks to the seal inside it, "you know." He started as he thought about something, "now that I think about it, they would only be going through a review or something today since the exams are tomorrow."

 

 **"Oh, then don't you need to be there for your review, it could help you out you know,"** Shizo reasoned as they ran.

 

Naruto shook his head, "I've seen what that school has to offer me, and I would rather take a chance to walk a tightrope across a bridge of flames and shark infested sharks than to trust them." He shook his head, "no, I would be better off doing my own thing and learning from sensei than let them teach me the wrong thing."

 

Shizo blinked,  **"how do you know they're doing that? It could also be another form of training."**

 

Naruto chuckled, "training, huh?" He laughed for a full five minutes, almost dropping the chest and falling to his death a few times within those few minutes. 

 

Shizo pouted,  **"what's so funny?"**

 

"Oh nothing," Naruto said as he paused to catch his breath, "just that that school wouldn't know real training if it bit them in the ass!" He laughed again, "they go over more theory in four years than I needed to know before I started doing my physical training with Sensei. Plus the history lesson was all too boring for my liking because they only talked about things that civilians would like to know more about, like what tea the Shhiodime used to like or when the Nadime flooded the lake to build a dam for the village's power supply."

 

Shizo's eyes widened,  **"whoa, one of your Hokage's did that?"**

 

"Yeah, it was the second, he was great with water, I sort of wanted to be like him when I was younger." Naruto explained as they got deeper into the forest, "anyway, all that stuff was the sort of thing that I could learn in the library if they let me through. But that's not the point, the academy does not give us all the information we need to become a ninja."

 

 **"What do you mean, that's they're job, isn't it?"** The cub asked, once again confused.

 

"Yeah, it is, but they don't do that, especially not when I'm there. I can see it in all of their eyes, they see me as a failure and want to see me do just that, but so far, I haven't done what they wanted and made a point to try and fail me more obvious. It has come to a point where the other kids think that they would be cool if they tried to make me fail as well, so I don't try in school anymore."

 

 **"What, no way, but I saw you while we were hunting, you're a natural born ninja! You can't give up!"** Shizo almost cried.

 

Naruto chuckled, "relax, will ya? I said I don't try in school, I didn't say I don't try anywhere else. And I know I'm not going to prove to them that I'm the best in my class now, they would only say that I'm cheating, so I'm only going to show as much as it takes to get out of them. Now pick up the pace, we're almost there."

 

Shizo nodded his head and picked up the pace as he followed Naruto, they soon found themselves standing in front of the biggest tree ever to be seen in the village. But it was only a genjutsu. Naruto walked up to the tree while bitting his thumb, he smeared some of his blood on the tree and walked through it after a second, Shizo was amazed by it and took a hesitant step towards the tree. He touched the bark with his paw to see if it was real and saw that it was, he was confused once more, something that seemed to become the norm whenever he was with Naruto. Naruto stuck his head out of the tree, scaring Shizo a little more than the cub would like to admit, "come on slowpoke, you're wasting daylight, let's go," Naruto said as he reached a hand down from out of the tree to pick Shizo up by the scruff of his fur. Pulling him into the tree with him, Shizo faintly felt something come around him and lightly pull at him before he was all the way through. Once he was set down, he turned around to see where the tree was, only to find a wooden door in its place, the door was a light brown, looked to be well carved, and had three leaf-like petals at the center painted in gold. He blinked at the door long and slow, thinking that the giant tree would come back if he just closed his eyes, he was wrong in his assumption and decided to shrug it off as something to think about later. He turned around when he heard a loud  _poof._

 

"Okay, I want you guys to fix up the upstairs, you guys can take the downstairs," Naruto said as he pointed out his clone's task, there was about three hundred of them ready and waiting to work. The groups of clones that already had their assignment went off to do it, while Naruto continued to give the other clones theirs, "you guys can fix up the gardening, some of you can clear away overgrown weeds while others plant some stuff to eat." Naruto looked over his remaining clones as fifty more went to do their job in the garden, "hmm, you guys clean up you can, take care of both the inside and outside of the house, if you find anything of value, bring it to me. The rest of you rebuild anything that is broken, window, floors, anything you think needs it, do it," Naruto watched as the last of his clones went to do their thing. He turned to Shizo, "would you like to help me out?"

 

Shizo nodded as he looked at the place that the Naruto clones were working on. It was like a modern-day castle with some Western and Japanese styling. There were rice paper sliding doors there and there, with glass sliding doors, walls that seemed to be made up of strong wood that he's never seen before, and a balcony surrounding the second floor and going halfway around the third. There seemed to be a medium sized reflecting pool off to the side that would need some cleaning from the looks of it. They went into the house to find a spacious living room that would be great for hosting parties and other events, not big enough for the whole village to come, but a few guests. Following Naruto, Shizo saw that the place was even bigger than it appeared, looking out the window that faced the back of the area they were in now, showed another building that was identical to this one. There were three buildings connected to the first one making a square shape, in the middle were a garden and a poor that seemed to be shaped oddly around one another. Getting a higher view on the third floor, Shizo that the guard and the poor made up the yin and yang symbol, with a small circular pond in the large part of the garden, and a similar one with the pool, only it was a bed of flowers. Some of the roofs was worn with age and the walls had white spots where pictures used to hang and bookshelves stood. The whole place was covered in dust and in need for repairs, but it was already ten times better than the apartment Naruto left behind, Shizo could see that it was already putting a smile on Naruto's face. They reached the fourth floor and found were the people that must have lived here long ago had placed all of their pictures and things in the attic, otherwise thought to be the fifth floor, they wouldn't have even known there was a fifth floor if not for the stars. The stairs was hidden by another wooden door that seemed to have been made out of a richer wood than the door they walked through, but this one had a swirl carved into the wood and then pained gold. Much like the door with the leaves on it, Shizo mused to himself.

 

Naruto huffed as he looked at the cluttered fifth floor, "okay, let's get started," he said as he walked forward. His feet leaving prints in the layer of dust that covered the floor over the years, Naruto looked down at his bare feet, he had taken off his shoes because it was accustomed to doing so. However, now that he was inside of this dusty place, shoes might have been a good idea, but they were already dirty and putting more dirt from outside when he was trying to clean seemed to be so troublesome right now.

* * *

**Academy**

 

 **"** Achoo!"

 

"Whoa, Shikamaru, are you okay?" 

 

"Yeah, it was just a sneeze, Chouji."

 

Chouji chuckled, "well, you know what they say, when someone you like is talking about you when you're thinking about them, you sneeze."

 

"Huh? Who says that?" Shikamaru asked with a raised eyebrow.

 

"Ino," Chouji said as he opened a bag of ships while the teacher had his back turned.

 

Shikamaru rolled his eyes, "troublesome blondes," he said before putting his head down to go back to sleep. 

 

Suddenly two pieces of chalk came flying at Chouji and Shikamaru, "Chouji! Shikamaru! Stop eating and sleeping through my lesson, you both have detention!" Iruka yelled at them making the groan in displeasure. Iruka humph'd and was about to turn back to his lesson when he noticed that Naruto wasn't in class yet, he was a little worried but shrugged it off. This was Naruto's last year in the academy if he didn't pass this year, then he would not be able to become a ninja unless he proved to the Hokage that he could. So with that in mind, he went on with his lesson while putting the blond troublemaker out of his mind. 

* * *

 

**Back with Naruto five and a half hours later**

 

"Done!" Naruto said with a proud smile as he looked over the de-cluttered floor of the attic. He had successfully picked, sorted, and pilfered through everything in the attic and essentially purged the mess that scattered all over the floor. Whoever packed away the top fool only did so to get things out of the way. Some of the paintings were damaged a little because of a window in the back of the room that was left open during the rainy season, most of them was unfixable with conventional tools of the triad. Some pictures were broken and missing a part of the frame, there was a smashed up bed in the corner that was no longer usable, and a crib that would need to be thrown away. There was, however, a large chest and wardrobe that was in good condition, when Naruto opened it, he found a bunch of clothes, both women and men's clothes, a lot of the clothes were traditional noble kimono's. When Naruto saw the amount of women's kimono there were, he could not help but imagine what his mates would look like in some of them, but he had to shake that thought away or else he would be daydreaming about it all day. Kyuubi had warned him about this as well since one of the changes Naruto experienced last night was a more perverted side of him, he didn't mind though, his mind was creative enough that a mental picture was almost as good as the real thing. Giving the chest and wardrobe to his clones to put away in one of the rooms that had been cleaned out, he finished cleaning and dusting the place out. By the time he was done, he found that there were two more windows in the room, a small balcony that he was able to see from the outside that faced the courtyard and looked out beyond the walls of the house. He found a few unfinished birdhouses and some weaponry that made Naruto smile, a few baby toys that looked hand-made, some vintage, a few of them were still brand new. Some baby clothes and out of date baby food was found in the corner next to the clothes he found earlier.

 

There were a few more outfits there, some for boys, but more were for girls, more weapons, some even looked handmade, some scroll on a broke down a shelf and two more chests. One was filled with more clothes, but this time it was more traditional and very high class than the others, it almost looked like wedding garments, there were multiple pairs, one for a man, another for a woman. Naruto counted four pairs of wedding kimono's, all different and unique, and one wedding dress that Naruto read came from the West. There were three men's wedding kimono's, and two tuxedoes, one in traditional black, and the other is not so traditional white. All were beautifully made, but none pleased Naruto, why would they? He never thought about getting married, not even yesterday when he was told about getting mates, but now? The clothes were pretty, yes, but marriage didn't feel like his thing, wasn't mating enough, animals thought it was. The second chest held pictures, pictures of one couple, in particular, Minato Namikaze, and Kushina Uzumaki, Naruto knew who they were because their names kept popping up in his history books. No one knew what happened to Kushina after the Kyuubi attack, many thought she died, but everyone knew the Yondime was dead. They knew that fact because the villagers blamed him for his death, Kyuubi didn't like talking about the event and Naruto could care less about it all together, so to see that all this stuff was theirs, did not make him feel too happy.

 

 **"What's wrong, Naruto-san?"** Shizo asked.

 

Naruto moved over so Shizo could see what was in the chest, "these guys are the famous Yondime flash and the Hot Blood Hobinairo, Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki." He explained, "the rumor is that Kushina died on that day, and the Yondime gave his life to save the village by sealing way the Kyuubi inside a baby. It turns out that that baby was me and everyone blames me for his death," he stated bitterly.

 

Shizo sat down next to the blonde with a sad look on his face, he thought about what Naruto said,  **"Uzumaki? Isn't that your name?"** He asked Naruto nodded,  **"then, are you two related to the Uzumaki clan in Uzushiogakiri? I heard it was destroyed a long time ago, but there were quite a few survivors that lived after."**

 

Naruto looked at Shizo as he took in his words, he turned back to the pictures in his hands, "even so, I am blond. From what I can tell, Uzumaki's are redheads, it's a particular type of red that is somewhat unnatural for normal redheads. Their hair is like the blood of blood and joy, bonding, something that no one can just obtain through dying their hair with mixed colors," he turned to the cub. "My hair is as bright as the sun, like a happy sunshine matched with ocean blue eyes that seem endless...they almost seem like they don't belong on a kid such as me." 

 

Shizo looked at Naruto for a moment, his hair was brightly colored and his eyes were a mix of the sky and sea. Tanned skin that was kissed by the sun, and whisker-marks that seemed to have been carved into stone.  **"You may not look like an Uzumaki, but may you're both."** He stated making Naruto give him an unimpressed look, Shizo only pointed a paw at a picture in Naruto's hands, it was one of the two adults together, smiling brightly at the camera in their wedding dress and tuxedo.  **"See, look there, you have his hair and eyes, but you have _her_ face, her smile, maybe you're not just an Uzumaki, but a Namikaze as well...think about it, when's your birthday?"**

 

"October tenth, same as always." Naruto said with a shrug, "I don't celebrate it though because of what happened." Shizo frowned and lifted one of his paws up in the air before bringing it down over Naruto's head, Naruto slammed into the floor when he did. "OW! You know, for someone so small, you have heavy paws."

 

Shizo smiled smugly at the blond,  **"thank you, it's one of my clan's famous ones, it's called 'Heavy Paw' or 'Hammer Paw' depending on how much strength is used."**

 

Naruto got back up while rubbing his head, "thanks for letting me know, I guess." He sighed, he looked at the photos again, the chest that held them was large, but there weren't even pictures to fill it up a quarter of the way. He looked into the chest to see a letter scroll sitting under most of the pictures. He put the pictures he was looking at back into the chest with the others as he took the scroll from its tomb. There was a blood seal on the front of it, he recognized it because of Kyuubi's many lessons on sealing and its theory, he opened it to see it was written the Yondime himself. He read it out loud for Shizo to hear.

 

Dear Naruto

 

  So, Naruto, it's me, the Yondime, I just found out some big news that will change my life forever. I'm going to be a father! Your father! Man, I am so excited to know that I can be a father, I can't wait to meet you, my son. Man, that takes some getting used to. It's already been nine whole months and you are almost here, Kushin, she's your mother, by the way, is already freaking out about you. Well, I mean we bother are, we're going to be parents! Who wouldn't excited about that? Actually, to be honest, I'm a little terrified about being I can't take care of you, or maybe it is, whatever, what I'm trying to say is that I don't want to disappoint you. I know that, as you read this, you must hate my guts pretty badly, right? Well, I can't really blame you. I screwed up really bad already, and I haven't even known you a full hour after you were born before I put this burden on you. I know your mother must be pissed at me or something worse than that, but just give her an extra big hug for me, okay. I'm already going to die by the time you get to read this letter anyway, so she can't really beat me up for doing it. Anyhow, a couple hours before you were born, Jiraiya told me about some prophecy and he thinks that it might be about you. I think so too, but not as much as him, I have my doubts but still, that's not really the point. Also, the really big news that I was talking about was two actually, nine months apart actually. No, you don't have a twin brother out there somewhere, maybe a twin sister, I think, everything's kind of crazy right now what with the Kyuubi getting ready to attack and all. Oh, wait, that was the news I was talking about, you see, after your grandfather, Jiraiya, told me about the prophecy, some ANBU with blank faces came to warn us about the Kyuubi. He said that it would attack in less than five hours. I think that report was wrong because it only took Kyuubi two hours to get here, one to destroy half the village, and another one for another masked man to come and try to steal you away, but he ended up taking your mother instead. I felt like a failer in those four hours, I keep waiting for the next shoe to drop and for someone to come and take you away too, but luckily, I was able to save you. 

  While the Kyuubi was attacking, your mother and I was in a secret location, away from the village. The reason why is because she is the container of the Kyuubi or she was until that man came along. He had an orange mask that I will never forget, it only had one eye hole and seem to swirl towards it like the eye was the starting point of a whirlpool. Either way, as soon as your mother pushed you out, he came and placed exploding tags all over you, he then made me chose between you and your mother, I chose you because that's what your mother wanted. I got you to safety, but by the time I got back to save your mother, it was too late. You must be confused by that, well, what no one knew was that Kyuubi was actually two entities, the yin chakra, and the yang chakra. The yin chakra was sealed away in your mother, but the yang chakra made a deal. I only found out about that when I became the Yondime, however, the yang chakra agreed to not attack the village, also as they kept his yin half unharmed and safe. I was not sure what to make of the real, I thought that the yin and yang half would want to get rid of the village altogether, but that was not the case. Either way, the deal dates back all the way to the Shodime Hokage, he agreed to the deal first and made a deal of his own with the yang half. He told the yang half that he would keep his promise if the yang chakra agreed to                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             it was the only way that the yin and yang half would agree to the terms. The deal was renewed with every Hokage that took the hat, I have met the yang half, and he made the same deal with me. He also informed of someone trying to capture him sometime back, he made it clear to me that if it happened again, the deal would be broken. He would attack when we least expect it and take the head of the one responsible before ripping the other half from whoever contained it. When I meet with the yang chakra again, he explained what happened. He told me that he                                                                                                                                                                                 

  I don't have much longer to go. I managed to deliver your mother to the hospital just in time to save her. As repentance, I sealed the yin half of Kyuubi within myself and gave you the yang, he promised to look after you and inform you of everything when the time was right. I don't know when that time will be, but if you go through with  _it_ then you will know everything on that day. He gave me his word, I didn't think I could really trust him after what happened, but a fox's word is their bond, and they never brake bonds. Bonds to them is like a promise, but deeper. I can't explain it better than that. Also, before I leave you forever with what I hope won't be a shitty life in the village for what I've done, I would like to tell you two things. 1.Find someone that makes you happy, test them in a way that will let you know that you are what you are looking for, and live your life to the fullest. And 2.if the village doesn't see you as a hero, then that's on them, not me because the Sandime led me and Kushina believe that he would keep quiet about all of this, including the Kyuubi part. However, if my death happens to leak out, I can only hope that they only say I killed the Kyuubi and you had nothing to do with it, maybe you can grow up with a normal life like any other kid would want, maybe you will become a ninja like your old man and your mom. May you could become Hokage and run the village one day...But, if your life is not how you want it, I have some documents hidden away in a house I built somewhere in the forest. If you are half as smart as I already know you will become, then you are the only person that will be able to find where it is. Hiruzen said that he would give you the keys when you get old enough, when he does, if the place is a really big mess by the time you get it, then there's a seal you can use to clean it all up. It doesn't clean little messes like spilled milk or anything like that, that you have to do on your own. You will be able to see it from the top floor, you can't miss it. everything I, and Kushina, once owned, no belongs to you.

I love you, son, I wish I got the chance for you to hear me say that you when you got older, but like is not so easy. Grow up strong, if you do go through with it, find strong partners that will back you up no matter what. I may not know much about it, but that's okay. Man, I told the Kyuubi this would only be a short letter and no he's getting annoyed that I'm writing so much, I keep telling him to shut up because it's not every day that a father has to say goodbye to his son. Anyway, its hard, but I have to go. maybe one day you will find me in the wind, maybe the mountains where you go, know that I love you.

 

Yours truly

Minato Namikaze, 

Yondime Hokage

 

 

Naruto stared at the letter for a long time, he reread the letter three times through for good measure and was stunned. His emotions, they felt so out of place inside of him. It was like running into an old friend you haven't seen in a long time and finding out that they helped you out more than you ever knew, but didn't care if you didn't notice. Why was it that his father sealed the Kyuubi way in him and took the other half with him when he died? He didn't understand, he could have sealed the other half back into his mother, but that's only if the seal was undamaged enough to so a resealing. And what about his mother? His father sounded like he knew she was still alive, but clearly, she did not raise him, no one raised him in fact. He knew how to get along in life on his own because of Kyuubi, so why? Was there something that took her away from him? Was she sent to another place to keep her safe because everyone thought of him as a demon and think that she would be his target? It's ridiculous, he knew, but the more likely explanation would be that she died after his father took her to the hospital. That thought hurt a little more than he thought, his chest felt tight, he wanted to scream, but his throat felt dry. Why did losing something you never even had hurt so damn much?!

 

 **"Will you be okay, Naruto-san?"** Shizo asked as he saw a single tear fall from Naruto's eyes.

 

Naruto shook his had as he put the scroll back into the chest that he took it out of before closing it, he got up from his spot as he shook his head again. He looked at Shizo, "I think I'm going to go for a drink, someplace to clear my head for a while." He said as he started walking off towards the stairs, "you can tell the clones about the seal, I'll be back later."

* * *

 

**Takamatsu Bar 12 o'clock**

 

Naruto had been at the for about few hours, this was actually the third bar he's been to since he left. He had no concept of time at the moment because he was in his third drinking contest at the bar. He had become the entertainment since he arrived and he forgot to put back up his henge as a random villager. People would try to hassle him to get out of the bar, threw bottles at him and get into fights with him every now and then, but he always won those battles even when he was intoxication. Thanks, to Kyuubi, he didn't get hangovers or need to worry about kidney failer or even alcohol poisoning. So he drank his heart out. By the time twelve o'clock came around, everyone that was bothering him left him alone to drink in the back of the room in a dark corner. He was thinking about ordering another drink when suddenly he caught the sight of a beautiful angel, skin that looked so smooth and soft, plump lips, even though he was far away, and somewhat drunk, he could see as sharp as ever. He got up on slightly unsteady feet and slowly made his way over to the counter where he sat next to a man who was crying into his beer, how sad. He watched the boy, Shikamaru, his foggy brain supplied him, he watched Shikamaru talk to some drunk guy and his friends that seemed to be too drunk to understand what the boy was saying. Upon closer notice, Naruto saw that Shikamaru was talking to his father, either that or someone from his clan, most of the men in the Nara clan style their hair in the same way that it's hard for a drunk to tell them apart right away. He ordered another drink while he watched the two Nara's talk or Shikamaru tried to talk and his father only ordered another round of drinks for his friends and himself. He heard some of their conversations, it seems that Shikamaru's mom wanted his father home for dinner, but the man was too drunk and happy to actually want to leave the bar willingly. Naruto almost felt bad for the kid, his father was a drunk that liked to spend more time with his friends that at home...his wife must have been a monster or something. He saw the moment that Shikamaru gave up on trying to bring his bad home and was heading towards the door, which would pass by the counter and his set, Naruto used his brine to think of something that would stop him. But as Shikamaru got closer and closer, the only thing Naruto could really focus on Shikamaru's beauty. 

 

Without thinking, Naruto reached out a hand to the passing Nara. Shikamaru was a bit startled by the action but recovered when he saw that it was only Naruto. When he realized that the blond looked to be slightly drunk, he raised an eyebrow at him, "Naruto? What are you doing here?"

 

Naruto wasn't sure what he wanted to say, so many things were coming to his mind, his thoughts were running a three-legged race with himself. The only thing he managed to get out was, "will you come home with you?" He wasn't sure how Shikamaru would react to that question, but it was too late to take it back, for a second he thought that Shikamaru would look at him in disgust, but instead, Shikamaru gave him a calculating look.

 

Shikamaru shrugged his shoulders after a moment of thought, "okay," he said nonchalantly.

 

Naruto was surprised by that but didn't look a gift horse in the mouth, he nodded at Shikamaru and they left the bar together. Naruto was too preoccupied with getting Shikamaru home that he didn't have bother to heed the lingering eyes of the original Ino-Shika-Chou team.

* * *

**Naruto's house**

 

Naruto managed to make it back to his new home in the drunk, in the dark, and on unsteady legs. He was smiling his brightest smile as he walked, letting his senses take over to guide him all the way home. Shikamaru followed Naruto silently, not making a single sound as they walked through back allies and empty streets, they didn't take the roof because Naruto wasn't sure that he could navigate as well while flying through the air in his condition. Shikamaru didn't mind the walk, it gave him time to think about things, certain things that included a certain blond, but mostly things that his father told him about said blond. Naruto was too happy, and intoxicated, to notice the silence between them. Once they got near to Naruto's house or the tree that hides the large structure that he now called home, he turned to Shikamaru, "okay Shika, you have to close your eyes now," Naruto slurred to the other boy.

 

Shikamaru again raised his eyebrow at the blond, "why?"

 

Naruto giggled, "it's a secret, now close your eyes, 'kay?"

 

"Troublesome," Shikamaru closed his eyes like the blond asked and heard a  _poof_ sound before he felt someone's hands came over his eyes. "Hey, what's this for?" He asked as he tried to remove the person's hands from over his eyes.

 

"No peeking, Shika, it's against the rules," Naruto said in a sing-song voice as he smeared blood against the tree. He then guided a blinded Nara through the entrance of his new estate, Shikamaru came through the tree unaware of what was happening or where he was going. He tried to feel for chakra signatures, but the only ones he was picking ups was those of Naruto and his clone, so he stopped trying to feel for chakra, instead, he tried to guess where he was, but that was a dead end as well. All Shikamaru could smell and feel was the forest around him, he stopped trying to guess where he was and tried to remember the feeling of the path he was being led down. He thought that he could retrace his steps later or in the morning when he needed to leave, either way, the guessing game was over for him. Naruto in the meanwhile was feeling a little nervous, Shikamaru's the first person that would see his new home, he had butterflies in his stomach right now, his head was telling him not to do this, that he might get hurt because of him, but the alcohol still running through his system was telling him not to worry. Just like the root of all evil, alcohol made you forget your brain in the lost and found until the next morning, so of course, Naruto was feeling like a king for bringing home his first mate so easily. Even though it went against the original plan that he set between Kyuubi and himself. 

 

Kyuubi could only worry about what tonight's events would mean for Naruto in the morning. If Naruto was to get reject now, while he was like this, it may not be so bad because the alcohol would soften the blow somewhat. Though deep down, both vessel and prisoner felt that something big was going to take place, and it may change things for the worst.

 

Naruto led Shikamaru into his house, he found that everything had been cleaned up well enough that the place looked good as new. There was no furniture to speak off, but that was a morning problem, not a night one. He found a room that was set up for him to sleep in tonight, it had a large platform bed that as covered in blankets, sheets, and the softest pillows he owned placed all over the bed. He was thankful that his clones had laid out something like this for him because he was not looking forward to sleeping on the floor tonight. When the trio entered the room and the door was closed, Naruto allowed his clone to dispel and Shikamaru saw the large, but the mostly empty room they were in, he already had a feeling that things were about to get dicey. His eyes landed on Naruto and he forced a smile, even though he felt completely awkward about this encounter already, "so, Naruto, um...what are we-" Naruto cut him off.

 

"Ssh, it's okay, I'll take care of you," Naruto said as he got closer to Shikamaru. Shikamaru wasn't sure what to make of the situation, but he didn't say anything, he kept his mouth shut and let the blond do whatever he wanted to do. Naruto was drunk after all, so he wouldn't really remember any of this, right? Or so he thought.

 

**Lemon**

 

Naruto's hands circled around Shikamaru's hips and pulled him closer. He looked into his dark brown eyes with piercing blue ones, he let one of his hands travel down to occurs Shikamaru's ass while his other hand pulled Shikamaru's head into a kiss. Shikamaru let Naruto led the kiss how he wanted and let his body go limp in the blonde's arms. Naruto smiled into the kiss and hooked a hand into Shikamaru's pants and pulled down while he kept kissing him, Shikamaru forced himself to stay calm and let Naruto do as he wished, but deep down he had a bad feeling about how this would end. Naruto's hand dipped into Shikamaru's underwear and squeezed his cheeks with one hand, then he brought his other hand down to the other cheek while he continued making out with the owners of those firm buns. He let a finger slip between them to the puckered hole in between, Shikamaru jumped and pulled back from the kiss, "What are you doing?" He asked slightly panicked.

 

Naruto smiled warmly at him, "I'm sorry, Shika, I'm getting ahead of myself, we can slow down if you want?"

 

Shikamaru opened his mouth to say yes, but he looked into Naruto's eyes, he didn't want to do this, but he had to. "N-no, you can continue," he said with a stutter, trying not to let Naruto catch onto his moment of hesitation.

 

"Okay, but just know, once I start, I don't think that I can stop, understand?" Naruto asked, he was still pretty hammer from the time at the bar or bars that he went to, but he was clear on his feelings about rape. Shikamaru nodded his head, Naruto paused to look into the Nara's eyes for a moment to see if there was any more hesitation there, but he didn't see anymore that would alert him to more than a sense of nervousness in the other boy, so he continued. He placed a kiss on Shikamaru's before moving them over to the bed and laying the boy down on it, "relax, okay?" Shikamaru nodded again and laid back, he focused his eyes on the ceiling to imagine that he was somewhere else, wishing that this night was already over.

 

Naruto took this as another sign of nervousness and went to work on undressing the other boy. He pulled Shikamaru's shoes off, he would have to remember to clean their shoe marks in the morning. He went up further and pulled off Shikamaru's pants all the way and slid his boxers down until his limp dick was free for the world to see. Naruto smiled at it, it was about a good seven inches give or take, he easily took it into his mouth, taking it all the way to the base and let his tongue dance around it, taste it. Shikamaru's back arched up a little when he felt his dick get encased in Naruto's mouth, but he tried to keep silent That was better said than done, however. Naruto pulled back a little until half of Shikamaru's dick was in his mouth before his head started to bob, he found a rhythm he liked and teased Shikamaru with his mouth. He would change from fast and slow just when the other boy was getting used to flow, he would full Shikamaru's dick all the way out before going back in and only suck the head of his dick. He made sure to pay attention to the head, sucking it like a lollipop, after a few minutes of this, Shikamaru was groaning in pleasure. He smiled as he pulled all the way off again and started licking the underside of his shaft, taking long strokes from the base to the head and using his tone to rim the hole of Shikamaru's dick which gets louder moans in reply. Naruto then takes it up a notch and takes Shikamaru's dick all the way down to the base again, by now the boy under him was fully hard, adding an extra inch or so, Naruto sucked a little harder as his hands played with Shikamaru's balls. He felt the Nara's hips buck under his ministration, he swallowed and hmmed, sending wonderful vibrations that Shikamaru had never felt before right through his dick. Shikamaru really could not last much longer thanks to Naruto's experienced handjob, and Naruto had learned how to use his mouth for more than mouthing off at people a long time ago.

 

Feeling Shikamaru at the very edge, he decided to tease him a little more and pulled his mouth off of his dick again. His hands got to work on pumping Shikamaru's dick, while his hand's other hand went to his own pants, pulling them down enough so that his now ten-inch hard cock was free from his pants. He pumped his own dick in time with Shikamaru, he could feel how close he was and wanted to push him over the edge so his went back to sucking the tip of Shikamaru's dick in time with his pumping hands. Shikamaru couldn't take it anymore and finally blow his load all over Naruto's hand, the blond having time to pull back before the milking explosion, took place. He licked his lips at the sight of Shikamaru basking in his afterglow, but Naruto wanted to see more. He milked every last drop cum from Shikamaru's dick and used that to lube up his own, he pumped his rock hard dick for a moment before using his own saliva to lube two of his fingers. Naruto got between Shikamaru's legs, hooking Shikamaru's knee's over his shoulder while he pressed a finger against Shikamaru's hole, Shikamaru moaned, still high from his release and sensitive below the belt.

 

"W-w-what a-are you d-doing?" Shikamaru half panicked, half moaned when he felt Naruto press his index finger into him.

 

"Ooh, Shika-chan's hole is very tight," Naruto cooed to the Nara who blushed as the Uzumaki pushed his finger in a little more before slowly pulling out. He repeated this motion a few more times before adding a second finger in, "so tight." Naruto smiled, "I'm going to have to loosen you up some more before I can fit."

 

"What! Y-you no-aaah," Shikamaru moaned as he felt Naruto's fingers increase their speed a little, it made him feel funny inside. Like there was something that he wanted Naruto to hit inside of him with those fingers, but he wasn't sure what it was, and Naruto was already making him feel horny again. He had never played with himself like this before, it was new and exciting, but also sort of scary. He didn't know how he was supposed to feel in this moment.

 

"Relax Shika-chan, you're squeezing my fingers pretty hard," Naruto chuckled, "oh, I know." He leaned over Shikamaru's body a bit and let his free hand pinch one of the boy's nipples, he got a pleasant moan in response, Shikamaru's hips bucked again without him meaning to. His dick was already starting to stand back up again, he was warm all over, Naruto smiled at his work and summoned two clones to help him.

 

The clone appeared next to Shikamaru, surprising him, "w-what are y-you-stop, n-ooh." He moaned again when one clone bent down and nipped his nipples while the other held his arms over his head. He felt Naruto add another finger and he moaned in both pleasure and pain and his ass was stretched. He felt himself getting close again, but the clone holding his arms over his head reach forward and grabbed his dick, squeezing it hard enough to stop him from cumming again. Shikamaru grunted in frustration and whined when he felt something large pressing into his hole slowly. He then realized that his eyes were closed and opened them to see that the Naruto between his legs was pushing his dick in slowly, Shikamaru panicked a little when he saw the size of it, not only was it long, but it was thick as well. Shikamaru shook his head when the original Naruto looked at him, "t-t-take it o-out, i-its t-too b-b-big," he stutters as he felt himself get stretched even more as Naruto kept pushing.

 

Naruto was trying his best to restrain himself so he didn't hurt Shikamaru. But seeing the way that Shikamaru looked now, flushed, panting, and ready for another release, he couldn't hold himself back any longer and pushed himself all the way in one go. He heard Shikamaru whimper at his size, he reached a hand out to caress Shikamaru's cheek, "ssh, ssh, calm down, the more you struggle, the more it will hurt, okay?" Shikamaru looked up at the real Naruto with another whimper, he wasn't used to anything going inside of him like this, it felt a little uncomfortable, but didn't hurt as much as he thought it would. Naruto allowed Shikamaru time to get used to his size before pulling back slowly, then he pushed back in just as slowly, it was torture for him because all he wanted to do was slam into Shika's tight hole over and over again until they both fell asleep. Alas, he couldn't risk hurting his mate and kept the pace slow for a while until he felt that Shikamaru was ready to sleep up, he nodded to the clone holding Shika's dick. The clone started pumping Shikamaru's dick in time with his thrust, matching him, Naruto slowly began to speed up his thrusting until he got his wish and was pounding Shikamaru into the bed. Shikamaru couldn't hold back his pleasure filled cries when Naruto hit a bundle of nerves, hard, he saw stars when he came from just that, but Naruto didn't stop and he found himself getting hard once more. Naruto adjusted his speeds to tease Shika, bringing him closer to the edge before slowing down, letting him catch his breath before picking up speed again, the second time Naruto did that, Shika came. The Nara spilled his seed all over his stomach while Naruto's clones kept pinching and squeezing his nipples and pumping his dick, all the attention was driving Shikamaru crazy and he pulled at the hand restraining him. He wanted some control back over his body, he's already cum three times already and Naruto hasn't come once yet!

 

"You know, you look pretty sexy like this, I almost wish this moment could last forever," Naruto said as he felt himself getting close. He nodded to both of his clones and they backed away from Shikamaru making the Nara growl in frustration at the loss of stimulation from the clones. But at least now his arms were free.

 

He smirked at the blond pulled him closer. "You can't last forever," Shikamaru sneered as he pulled the blond closer to him with his legs, wrapping them around the blond's waist.

 

Naruto moaned, "yeah, you might be right about that," he said with a smirk of his own, surprising the Nara. repositioning Shikamaru upright so that he was now almost sitting on Naruto's dick, inevitably pushing his dick deeper into Shikamaru, the Nara moaned out at the sudden change. The motion caused Naruto to hit that bundle of nerves, again and again, Naruto's smirk grew as he felt Shikamaru getting closer to the edge once more. "Let's go together this time," he said as his thrusts got quicker and harder, Shikamaru held onto Naruto's shoulder's for deal life as he felt his body start to shake, he didn't know how much more he could take. Thankfully, Naruto was just as close and they came together, Shikamaru pained their midsection and chest with his cum while Naruto released his hot seed inside of Shikamaru. They both collapsed back onto the bed, Naruto used his hands to keep himself from falling on top of Shika, he quickly pulled out of him and lay next to him for a moment, he caught his breath after a few seconds and waited for Shika to do the same. He turned his head to look at Shikamaru, he noticed a slight rise in his stomach and sat up to infect it, it wasn't firm but it was not soft either, Shikamaru heaved a sigh and opened tired eyes to watch Naruto.

 

"What?" He asked as noticing how Naruto kept looking at him oddly.

 

Naruto was drawn from his thoughts with Shikamaru's curious voice, he smirked and looked at his clones, "turn him over." Was his simple command, the clones complied and flipped Shikamaru onto his stomach against Shika's protest. Naruto looked at his cum covered vest and ripped it off over his head, his clones got the idea and pulled the rest of Shikamaru's clothes off as well, one of them gathered up all the dirty clothes and left the room with them while the other stayed. The remaining clone recaptured Shikamaru's arms and Naruto got between the boy's legs again, he took a hold of his hips and pulled them upward until he was in a kneeling position with his ass up in the air while the clone kept the other half down.

 

"This is embarrassing," Shikamaru muttered to himself as he sent a weak glare back at the original, but the blush on his face made the glare nonlethal in his state.

 

Naruto chuckled, "maybe, but it's about to feel really good," he stated as he lined up his still hard cock to the slightly reddening hole. He smiled, "ready?" He heard Shikamaru mutter something into the bed sheets before Naruto plunged into Shikamaru's body again. Shikamaru let out a shuttered breath as a shiver traveled up and down his spine at the feeling that Naruto caused within his body. He could have sworn it would hurt, but it didn't his insides felt wet, he also felt really full this time around, but most of all, he felt the pleasure of being entered again run straight to his dick and a little to his balls. He moved his hips a little to see if he could get a little more of Naruto inside of him, his dick was already rock hard again and in the back of his he wondered if he was becoming addicted to this kind of sex, or maybe it was just Naruto he was getting used to. Either way, he didn't want to stop the feeling that was overflowing into his body, whatever it was. Naruto, in the meantime, was enjoying how wet Shikamaru felt inside, it was like he found the perfect hole, it was wet, but still so tight, he felt like he was going to come from the feeling alone, but held back. He wanted to work for his reward. This time around, Naruto did not wait for Shikamaru to get used to his size and just started slamming into him without hesitation or mercy, not that Shikamaru mind anymore, the feeling was just too good. Naruto loved the sound that came from fucking Shikamaru's cum-filled ass over and over, it felt too good to be true, he let his remaining clone get in front of Shikamaru so he could get some actions too. Shikamaru didn't care what was going on around him anymore now, he felt unbelievable pleasure going straight to his dick that he came faster than he did the first time Naruto entered him. Shikamaru sicked on the clones dick hungrily while pumping his hand on his own dick, letting Naruto do whatever he wanted with his ass. Shikamaru came two more times before coming together with Naruto after he dispelled the clone. They both basked in the afterglow and fell into a deep sleep not too long after their heads hit the pillows on the bed.

 

**Lemon end**

 

* * *

**Next morning**

 

The sun rose too soon after that. When it did, both boy's heads were much clearer than it was that night, this was not good news for Naruto, however.

 

As the sun rose and shined into the room, Shikamaru woke up first, the first thing he noticed was that he was not in his bed. The second thing he noticed was that he was naked and felt sticky, two things that he did not like when he woke up, tired was fine, hungry was okay, but sticky was not. Lastly, he noticed that he was not alone in bed, turning his head slowly, his vision was filled with blond hair and tanned skin. He shot up into a sitting position, which ended up being a mistake as the pain of his first and last nights decisions came back to bite him in the ass. Shikamaru berated himself for being so stupid when he was meant to be smart, as quietly as he could, he eased himself out of bed and searched for his clothes, he couldn't find them, he looked all over the floor, which wasn't hard since there was nothing but a bed in the room so far. Shikamaru saw that he was not going to have any luck in here, so he tried to get out of the bedroom without waking Naruto, too bad Naruto already sensed his moves.

 

"Good morning Shika-chan," Naruto said while stretching out on his side of the bed, he turned happy smiled to the grimacing Nara, "how did you sleep? I hope I didn't get too rough with you last night."

 

Shikamaru frowned, "where are my clothes?" He asked, ignoring the question completely.

 

Naruto blinked as he slowly sat up in his bed, Shikamaru's tone made him wake up fully, it wasn't the tone he was expecting this morning. "Urm, I think it's in the laundry room," he said hesitantly, he eyed Shikamaru's reaction and didn't see what he expected. There was no blushing, no shyness, no...anything, did Shikamaru not like him like he thought? Did the alcohol turn him off? Naruto's brain flashback to the night they spent together and started to feel a bad feeling come over him as Shikamaru spoke.

 

"Where is it? I need to get out of here soon," Shikamaru said coldly.

 

Inside, Naruto felt sort of hurt by that but still pointed out where his clone went to wash and dry their clothes, "down the hall, two doors to your left." Naruto slowly got up from the bed, "Shika, did I do something wrong you last night? Did I hurt you?"

 

Shikamaru's eyes turned cold, "you took my first time from me," his voice was just as cold as his eyes.

 

Naruto felt his heart sink a little, "but...but you said-"

 

"I lied," Shikamaru said, he sighed when he saw the hurt look in Naruto's eyes. He didn't want to do this, why did he have to be the one to do this? "Look, Naruto," he looked down at his feet, " last night was a mistake, I should not have allowed you to do all those things to me, but-"

 

"But what," Shikamaru jumped a little when he heard the venom in Naruto's voice. He looked into Naruto's eyes and saw frosty blue eyes looking back at him, "you're just like the others, aren't you?"

 

Shikamaru blinked twice, he didn't understand, this was not the Naruto he was expecting to face today. He thought he was going to have to deal with a whiny crybaby, someone that...wasn't like the blond in front of him now. Naruto walked up to where Shikamaru was standing, Shikamaru tensed up, he thought he was going to get hit or punch or something with the way Naruto was looking at him but instead, Naruto just brushed passed him. Shikamaru watched numbly as he walked out the bedroom door and down the hallway without looking back, "come one, you want to leave right?" Naruto yelled back at Shikamaru when he didn't sense the boy walking behind him, Shikamaru snapped out of his stupor and limped behind the blond, the pain in his ass was intense, but it also kind of felt good in a way. Was this how all guys felt after their first time with another guy? He couldn't help but wonder as he followed the blond down the steps into the laundry room. Or what was posing as the laundry room. There was water coming from the ceiling that flowed into an endless pond on the ground that stayed in one corner of the room, looking up at the spot the water was coming from, he saw that there was a seal that allowed the water to come down from it. On the opposite side of the room was a bright yellow orb that looked like the sun, but not as bright, though it felt as warm as the sun would feel on a clear day. Under the substitute sun was a line filled with clothes, Naruto walked over to it and tossed Shikamaru some clothes, he noticed that it was his clothes, they felt like they had been drying under a real sun. Shikamaru looked up at the small sun then over at the waterfall on the opposite side of the room, they were inside and yet these two things-"hurry up and get dressed, I'll show you out when you're done," Naruto stated as he marched out of the room.

 

Shikamaru flinched at the order and watched Naruto leave the room so he could get dressed. It was when he was alone that the guilt started eating away at his insides, he was only doing what his father told him to do. His father was also doing what the clan elders told him to do, he couldn't really blame his father too much for that, but man was this troublesome. He didn't want Naruto to be mad at him, that's why he didn't want to do this. Would Naruto ever forgive him? Could he, after what he's done?  He probably couldn't forgive himself and he was the one that did it. He sighed as he finished getting dressed, he limped back up the steps as best he could and found Naruto wrapped in a bath towel. "Um, Naruto, about earlier, I was just-"

 

"Save it, Nara, I know you're dad must have put you up to this or something," Naruto said tiredly. His shoulders slumped and he sighed, he felt so much older than he was, did he always feel this way after drinking a lot? Nah, he's gone out to drink a lot before, but never has he ever done such a thing like this before. He said keeping his back turned towards Shikamaru as he rubbed his hands over his eyes, "you know, I think you were right, Nara-san, last night was a mistake." He turned towards a slightly startled, slightly saddened Shikamaru, he smiled one of his fake smiles at him, "let's forget the whole thing ever happened, alright?"

 

Shikamaru couldn't believe what he was hearing, "wha-bu-n-no you can, we can! What about..." Shikamaru couldn't tell if he was panicking or feeling the full weight of his guilt now that he's seeing a whole new side of Naruto, when did he change so much. Was he always this way?

 

"Trust me Shika," Naruto said coming closer towards Shikamaru, "it's for the best," he smile dropped as he lifted his hand. Shikamaru looked into Naruto's eyes and a small piece of him felt like it might have died, Naruto raised his hand to Shikamaru's face and a flash of light appeared. Suddenly Shikamaru fell to the ground unconscious, Naruto frowned at the boys still form, "I shouldn't have expected any different from this village," he turned and walked away from him. His clones rushed over and picked up the unconscious boy, "take him home and seal away his memories, he doesn't need to know about any of this." Naruto commanded his clones before disappearing into his new bathroom, his clones followed his orders without pause, as they left the house, Naruto closed the door to the bathroom and locked it. "I really thought you were the one," he whispered as he walked over to the shower to start the water.

 

**TO BE CONTINUED...**

 


	3. The Apprentice

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay, so as of now, I am not sure on what couples that I wanted to be in this story right now. I thought I did, but as I started writing this chapter, I realized that those couples from before weren't working for this story. I might remove SasuNaru too, maybe, but I will definitely bring in Gaara to the mix. Also, I'm thinking about making this story a crossover. Message me and let me know your thoughts.

While the clones were making their way out of the house, one of the group of five spoke up. An idea had popped into his head to punish the Nara heir for his crimes against the boss. When he voiced his idea out to the group, he was not all that surprised when they told him that they were thinking the same thing. An evil smirk passed between the group as they got to work on the Nara's punishment. No one messes with the boss and gets away with it, he's already had too many people mess with him already, his heart was the last piece of him left to protect. This opinion was mutual with them all, they were his clones after all.

 

Meanwhile, inside of the house, Naruto had just gotten out of the shower and was just finishing with drying himself off, When Kyuubi spoke up from his mind. "What is it sensei?" Naruto asked tiredly as he picked up his clothing and started to put them on. Today's outfit consisted of burnt orange cargo shorts with a few extra pockets along the sides of his pant legs, a white long-sleeved muscle shirt, black converse with white edges and toe tip, a burnt orange beanie that hung off his head a bit, and dark red wristbands on both wrists. He finished off the look with a black overcoat with bell sleeves, it had a white outline of a fox on his back with one paw over the orange swirl of his ancestors before him. Kyuubi waited until the Uzumaki was a little more cooled down before he told what he had to say to his jailor.

 

 **"Kit, I have been thinking. What if you became a demon lord when I change you?"** Asked the fox as Naruto left the bathroom and headed to the kitchen, the blond didn't say a word, but the fox knew he was listening.  **"If you became a demon lord, instead of a plain old demon, you would be able to have as many mates as you wanted. However, usually, the lords would stop at about ten, which is the usual number for the few demon lords that I have met over the years when I was still free to roam about where I pleased. It would only be one more mate than what I was telling you about before, also, you could enter Maki whenever you want to train, which I recommend you do as soon as this test thing is over. If you want to be a lord, that is."**

 

"Why should I be a lord?" Naruto asked as he started to make breakfast for him and Shizo, "if the difference between the two is only one mate, then why should I bother? You saw what happened with Shikamaru earlier, I don't want that to happen again, and if it does, I might end up becoming a half-demon anyways. I don't want to face all this heartache again so soon."

 

Kyuubi's heart went out to the kit, even though they had not talked much about mating and the result of it, Kyuubi knew. He knew that the village would try something to harm him while he was looking for his mates, he didn't think it would happen so soon or in this way, but it did. Kyuubi also knew that if he went after easy prey first, things would go somewhat smoother for his kit when he got his other mates, hence why he told him to go after people that would be easy. Shikamaru was lazy and showed it quite well, the boy did not like 'troublesome situations', as he had put it, so Kyuubi though he would be perfect. Then there was that Hyuuga boy, Neji, he had noticed that he was a branch member and thought that since he was not a main branch member, he would be easier to persuade. Although, they had yet to see the boy what with recent events. They did see a glimpse of him after hunting the first day that Naruto met Shizo. But they were unable to talk to the Hyuuga because he was already heading off with his team for a mission or something. Kyuubi cursed himself for being unable to take control of Naruto last night so he could better handle the situation, but it was too late for that right now. He sighed, then turned his attention back to his kit as he made tea,  **"Naruto."** He began,  **"I know that you hurt because I can feel your emotions through the seal, however, you must listen to me, alright? A demon may have lots of mates and is strong, but they are not nearly as strong as a demon lord. As a lord, you would be able to have power flowing through your veins the power to control minds and enter them at will, you can project your thoughts and feelings into whoever you want, but you would have to train to use it. It would usually take centuries to become a demon lord, but with me sealed inside of you, giving you training like I have for so long, you are already halfway there already. All you would have to do is train a little harder, follow my instructions and I promise that I will not fail you. So, to answer your question from before, the number of mates is not the only thing that separates the two."**

 

Naruto was tempted, he wasn't completely sold yet, but he was tempted. "What else would I get? I know you are hiding something from me, I can feel it in your voice."

 

Kyuubi smirked, his training was shining through,  **"correct. In order to become a lord, you would need apprentices, but for now, we start with one. The role of the apprentice is to follow the Lord's word and will, follow it to the letter and be one hundred percent loyal to you. The lord would then make his apprentice ready to become a lord themselves, giving them advice and so on about how to proceed through the ranks."**

 

"What else? I know that can't be all, if so, then there would be lords everywhere, not few like you had mentioned before."

 

 **"Ah, you make you so proud kit, if you weren't already changing into a demon, I would have sworn you already were of my blood."** Kyuubi smiled to himself,  **"but you are right,"** he frowned then as he got serious, **"not all the apprentices you would undertake will survive the trials of your leadership as they would need to fight for their lives."**

 

"Fight?" He asked as he put down a plate of food on the table.

 

**"Yes, you see, to become a demon lord's apprentice, one must prove themselves to be worthy to be one, an apprentice, and two, apart of the demon ranks. The apprentice would have to abandon their humanity to follow you and train both day and night, but, they would only be half-demon during that time. "**

 

Naruto let the news wash over him, "hmm...who would they be fighting? Me?"

 

Kyuubi shook his head,  **"no, you would be too strong for them on that leave. An apprentice fighting their lord is like a baby lifting a building with just it's finger. No, they will be fighting their own kind, other half-demons that have given up everything to follow their masters, if they lose, they lose everything, but if they win, they get to live. The event is celebrated much like you genin and chunin exams here, except they aren't so...clean, I would say."**

 

Naruto thought about the choices again, he could be strong, and he could have the power to show others how he felt. That might come in handy, in fact, he could show all those damn villagers how it feels to be him on a daily basis, Naruto liked the sound of that. "Alright, I agree, so, how would I find this person? Got any tips for me sensei?"

 

Kyuubi thought about that for a moment, on one hand, there was that Sasuke kid. He was a strong fighter for a spoiled brat, but his skills were dwarfed by Naruto's by miles and he did not want that arrogant prick to come and start demanding shit. Then there was Shino, he was skilled with his bus, smart too, however, he did not want the boy to die so soon. He knew members of the Abarame clan in the past, they were good people, but they were scorned because of their skills and use of bugs, the living hives had been naturally exiled from society since before the hidden villages were created. Kiba was no good, even though he would have been perfect, Kyuubi could just smell the underlying scent of submissive all over him, and if he could smell it, then other demons could as well, even half-demons, so he was definitely out. As Kyuubi played through the list of people in Naruto's class that he could make his apprentice, both male and female since the village had limited their skills so much, he started to wonder about a certain Hyuuga. Kyuubi didn't know why, but this one seemed to be gnawing at his interest, he had seen the way she looked at the blond from afar and thought she would make a great mate, if not for her irritable stutter. As he thought more and more about her, the more he started to see some potential, they did spy on one of her solo training sessions and were blown away, the girl had skills. He wondered why she never showed it in class, but then figured that she was going to be a ninja and had to throw people off, the art of deception was one of their trade after all.  **"Hmm, yes, I think I may have someone, they're going to need some work, but I think it would be worth looking into,"** he said. He was about to tell who it was when the clones from before came back into the house while dragging a half-continuous Shikamaru in with them, they dropped him unceremoniously onto the ground a few feet in front of their creator.

 

Naruto looked at them as if they had lost their collective minds, "what is this? I thought I told you to take him home and erase his memories? Why is he still here?" He asked in a monotone voice.

 

One of the clones smirked, "we know, boss, but we actually had a better way of punishing him after what he had done to ya." The clone smirked as he winked an eye at his creator, the original raised an eyebrow at that, "you'll know what we did when we dispel."

 

The clones all smirked and started to dispel one at a time, giving Naruto every last single detail on what had happened to the Nara. When he was done organizing the memories, he looked over to Shikamaru to see that his clothes were ripped, he had some bruises on his exposed skin and looked like he was in a lot of pain. He walked over to the boy and moved some of the hair that had been covering up the boy's neck. There on the back of Shikamaru's neck was a seal that was still glowing a dull green color, after looking at it for a moment, the glowing stopped and settled to an ink-like appearance. He knew then without a doubt that Shikamaru would probably be a little more easily controlled after what was done with him by his clones. Thinking of something quickly as he looked over at the time, he created another set of clones, only three this time, "okay, I want you two to take him to the bathroom and wash him up as best you can before nine o'clock hits." He instructed the two clones, they saluted him and picked up the downed Nara like a sack of potatoes, getting a little protest from Shikamaru in return, and went off to carry out their task, Naruto then turned to the last clone, "You. I want you to go find the most fitting outfit you can find for him and out it one him, when he's all dressed up, bring him to me or to the school, that is if you all finish before I leave." The clone saluted and took off to carry out his task, Naruto then turned back around to see Shizo sleepily walking over to the table to eat, so he joined the small tiger.

 

Kyuubi couldn't wait to see what Naruto was planning, he had seen the memories and were excited to see what the clones had done. It was a bit harsh, but then again, Naruto was not in the right state of mind when he created those batch of clones. Even though he had access to Naruto's mind from inside of the seal, the seal could not allow him to take over the blond's mind without consent, so Naruto was able to hide his thoughts from Kyuubi whenever he wanted to. It was a rare thing, but whatever, Kyuubi smirked,  **"things just got interesting."**

* * *

 

**Academy**

 

Naruto left the house a few minutes after he finished eating breakfast with Shizo. The little tiger was full of energy once he had a full stomach that he decided to give Naruto a ride to school. Shizo had transformed into a larger version of himself and took off with Naruto on his back, they were going so fast that all the villagers saw were an orange blur shooting across the rooftops, it was then that Naruto got an idea on how to improve a jutsu that he had been working on in his spare time. The jutsu was something like his father's Flying Thunder God technique, but instead of using seals on Kuni, he was aiming to only use pure speed. Although he has gotten better at the speed part, the jutsu wasn't nearly complete, but with Shizo's speed, he decided to tweak the jutsu a bit and they turned into a streak across the sky. Saving the information that he gathered from the little experiment as they almost crash-landed into the walls of the academy, they managed to avoid that, however, and made it inside the building. By the time they got inside, mostly all of the students were inside and in their seats, looking around, he saw that there was a seat open near the middle of the classroom, even though he preferred the back seats, all those seats were filled up today. He frowned at this and made his way over to the middle row and sat down when he did, he thought he heard the faint sound of elephants running through the halls, but he knew that there were no elephants in the village...well, not unless the Hokage had allowed the circus to come to town. Which was most unlikely. Chalking it up to false alarms, he sat rested his head on in the folds of his arms as he tried to block out all the noise of the classroom and its ninja hopefuls.

 

Sasuke glared at the blond for sitting in the seat next to him. How dare he think that he could sit next to an elite Uchiha! Where the thoughts running through his mind at the moment, however, his feelings of the blond soon changed when the soft stomping of feet in the hallway got louder and louder. HIs fangirl radar was going off like the siren, notifying him that his sanity was soon to be tested again. Like any day that Sasuke came to school, he would have this second sense that told him when his fangirls were starting to get close to him, too close for comfort, this sense has helped him locate and dodge said fangirls since his first days in the academy. He could barely go and take a piss without those damned fangirls following him, once, he had even encountered a few of them waiting in the stall furthest to the back of the restroom, waiting for him. One of them was even so bold as to ask him to pee on them with a perverted look in their eyes. It was disgusting, since then, he had made a point to stay away from as many of the female populace as he could because there were just too many attacks on his personal space and privacy for him to take a breath of fresh air. He did, however, seem to take notice of one girl amongst the masses that didn't follow the examples of the rest of the girls in their class, and her name was Hinata Hyuuga. Don't get him wrong, he didn't hate girls, but he didn't like them either, always drooling over him and stuff. But Hinata, she didn't do any of those things that their female classmates would do during school hours, and then after, nor did she stalk him or steal his underwear from his home to sell to the other girls in their class (insert disgusted shiver here). Hinata was different from the other girls in their class, now, he didn't like girls, but one of his ambitions is to bring back his clan, so he would be needing a female for that. Sasuke had set his mind up long ago that Hinata would be the one to help him bring back his clan, not only that, with the Hyuuga bloodline mixing with his own, his clan would be stronger than ever! He was planning on bringing this topic up with the elders on the council after the test today, he was sure that they would approve of it in a heartbeat.

 

Sasuke's internal musing was cut short once the sound of an ear piercing squeal was heard as two of his loudest fangirls almost broke through while trying to enter. Their screams of 'I'm first' drew the attention of everyone in the class, and some of the people next door and across the hall from them. Naruto did not lift his head from the table because he knew what he would see, Sasuke cringed as he had not mentally prepared himself for the scream they brought with their entry of the class, and the rest of the class sweat-dropped at their loudness. Especially the clan heirs.  _"I still can't believe that they made it this far, Ino is one thing, but Sakura as well? What are the odds?"_ Where their collective thoughts and other similar ones like it as they all watched the two of them bicker on who was first or not.

 

Sakura broke away from the fight to look around the room for something when she found it, she smiled and ran down the stares. She giggled when she came to the row that Sasuke was sitting in, she blushed, not noticing a certain blond that was also in the row. "Uhm, S-Saskue-Kun, would you mind if I sat next to you?" Sakura asked as cutely as she possibly could.

 

Sasuke mentally sighed, it was the same routine every time, she would come over and ask, but end up fighting for the seat anyways. He glanced over at her for a moment, which caused her to blush, but then he noticed something. He mentally smirked, "I don't know, why don't you asked Naruto?I mean, he's sitting right in front of you after all," Sasuke said in his usual monotone voice.

 

"Oh, right, silly me, hehe," Sakura giggled before glaring down at the blond in front of her. He growled when he didn't look up at her as she glared intensely at his downed skull, "hey, dobe, get up right now I want to sit next to Sasuke-Kun!" She yelled at him while increasing her glare to be strong enough to burn holes into him, although he assumed sleeping blond did not seem to notice. This got Sakura even angrier, she started to shake him violently, "I said, WAKE UP!" She said as she lifted her fist up to strike his head, but her hand was caught.

 

"Oi, oi, what's a guy gotta do to get a bit of peace around here, eh?" Naruto said as e slowly sat up and rubbed his eyes with his free hand, he turned his attention towards his attacker, "oh, it's just a wannabe." He yawned, Sakura bristled at that and tried to move her had out of his grasp, but he held her hand tight, Naruto raised an eyebrow at her, "you're trying to hit him?" He asked, the look on her face told him everything he needed to know, he was wondering what he could have done to her in their time here that she would want to hit him over the head or beat him up so often. "Why?"

 

"Hmph, a dobe like you wouldn't understand." She tried bringing down her first over his head again, but it just wasn't working, "grrr, let go of my hand so I can hit you!" 

 

Naruto narrowed his eyes at her, "what dd I ever do to you? I have been sitting here since I came in and then you want to come and hit me for that?" He tightened his fist around her hand making her wince a little, "answer me."

 

"I don't need to do anything you say!" Sakura yelled at him, Naruto tightened his fist around her's even tighter, making her drop down to a knee because of the pain he was giving her. "OW! Let go of my hand."

 

"I asked you what I did to cause you to hit me so much," Naruto said in a low voice as he tightened his hold on her, even more, making some of her bones to break.

 

Sakura whimpered at the pain, "PLEASE, IT HURTS YOU MORON!" 

 

"So you still have the gall to call me names even when you're on your knees and in pain?" Naruto asked with some killing intent leaking out of him, shocking the others in the room, even Sasuke, a bit since they had never seen him like this before. 

 

Kyuubi smirked again inside the seal,  **"ah, kit, how about you finally show these whelps what you're really like, eh? Let them feel what it's like to be hurt the way they have hurt you!"**

 

Naruto mentally smirked as well,  _"you know what sensei, I think this time, you may be on to something."_ Naruto's outward appearance was that of an emotionless statue as he watched Sakura try and fail to free her hand from his grasp. "This is for all the times you have hurt me for no reason at all when I was only trying to be nice to you until now when everyone used to bully you for you hug forehead." With a little more pressure, everyone in the room cringed as they heard a cracking sound coming from Sakura's hand, they all covered their ears when Sakura let loose a blood-curdling scream of pain from it. The amount of pressure Naruto had added was only a little bit, to him anyway, but to Sakura who didn't seem to have the sense to filter some chakra into her hand before he crushed it to help with the reconstruction and healing of it later, Sakura's had ended up being completely broken. If a medic were to look at it now, they would say that it was unfixable. Even If Tsunade, the legendary Slug Sannin, last heir of the Senju line and the greatest medic to step foot into the ninja world, were to look at Sakura's hand she would declare that the girl could no longer pass chakra through it because of the way it was broken. The pathways leading to and through the hand and fingers were crushed and the bones would look like a million piece jigsaw puzzle in an X-ray. Naruto finally let go of Sakura's hand, watching as the girl fell to both knees and started to sob at her broken hand, which was going to start turning black and blue soon. He frowned at the thought.

 

 **"What's wrong kit, do you regret what you did?"** Asked the Kyuubi.

 

 _"No, I don't want the teachers to delay the test because of her."_ He thought coldly, he never liked Sakura to begin with, _ **"**_ _could you, maybe-"_

 

**"Cast a genjutsu over the classroom so that those two idiots don't see all of this? I'm already on it kit, I'll cast a genjutsu over the room that wouldn't be broken until after the test is over."**

 

Naruto nodded to the fox mentally, thanking him for casting the jutsu. Naruto could cast and break genjutsu on his own, however, his would have been easily detected because he had not mastered the heart of hiding his genjutsus, as well as Kyuubi, did yet. True to his word, Kyuubi cast a genjutsu over the classroom to make it seem like it was just another regular day, all the kids already in the classroom got a dazed look in their eyes as they went to their seats and sat down, waiting for Iruka and Mizuki to come. The great thing about Kyuubi's genjusus was that even though he didn't cast the jutsu on any one person, anyone in the area would be affected as soon as they entered the area, it was also undetectable like other human casted illusions. A minute after the jutsu settled over the room, Iruka and Mizuki entered the room and were instantly under its spell. The test papers were passed out, but no one was able to take the test, well, even Sasuke and Hinata who had initially tried to dispell the jutsu when they noticed everyone else's behavior. The room was as quiet as a library, seeing how no one else could pick up their pencils and move it in the way that would mark eight or wrong answers, they were simply mindless zombies doing a test, whether they pass the test like this or not, was not Naruto's concern. Though he did feel bad about Hinata, Chouji, and Shino, they at least deserved to pass the test. Hinata, even though she didn't talk all that much to him in the past, did seem to show that she wanted to be kind to him. Chouji wasn't the type to pick on people for anything, not when he knew how it felt to be picked on himself. Shino seemed to be quite good with his skills in spying, if he had a little extra help, he could possibly be the best spymaster there was, like Jiraiya or even better. So, with the little goodness still left in the cracked, cold, damaged thing that he called a heart, he took their test papers from them and started to mark enough right answers on their papers to help them pass. 

 

It was around the moment when Naruto had just finished marking the second answer on Chouki's paper that some of his clones appeared in the room. Like him, his clones would be immune to the effects of the genjutsu the Kyuubi had cast. He didn't look up from the paper he was filling out for Chouji, he had already filled out Hinata's papers and placed them on Iruka's desk, along with the people's test who was already finished with theirs, "is he finished?" He asked as he moved down the paper.

 

The clones nodded, "yeah, he's all cleaned up for ya, boss," one of the clones said as he presented Shikamaru to their creator.

 

The Nara heir was still pretty shaken up from his earlier experience that morning. His body still hurt him a lot, he was angry that the clones wouldn't answer any of his questions. But most of all, he was hurt that he hurt Naruto so bad that he managed to change him, in his mind, he still could not believe that Naruto would order or let his clones do all those things to him, it wasn't like last not. No in the slightest, last night had been something passionate, something new that filled his heart, making him question if he really ever liked girls, to begin with. If he ever wanted a wife to begin with. But now, he was hurting all over, emotionally and physically, he almost felt as if he deserved most of what had been done to him. However, he didn't think that he deserved the small pounding he got before they arrived in the classroom, there were still tears in his eyes from the-

 

"Shikamaru," said boy's thought train was derailed at the sound of his name being called by the original blond he was thinking about.

 

"Y-ye-yes?" Shikamaru asked his body was subconsciously shaking as he felt Naruto's eyes on him. But because of all the events leading up to now, he didn't know if he could look back into those blue eyes staring at him if he could ever looking into those eyes again.

 

Meanwhile, Naruto had finished filling out Chouji's paper just as quickly as Hinata's and was moving on to Shino's when he noticed that Shikamaru had yet to say a word to him. When he looked up, he saw that the usual lazy boy was now tense, scared, and lacking his former confidence he once had. He was now dressed in a simple schoolgirl outfit, a dark blue plaid skirt with a white button-down shirt, a dark blue bowtie around his neck and a light blue cardigan over the shirt. He had black thigh high stockings that hugged his long legs perfectly, his hair was down, styled in a way so it was somewhat curly with a blue hairclip to keep a bang in place over the side of his left eye since it slightly covered it a bit. All in all, Shikamaru looked a lot like his mom, Naruto guested that's where he got most of his looks from. It was cute, "Shikamaru," he said again, making sure that he had the boy's full attention, "do you remember what happened this morning?"

 

Shikamaru's eyes briefly shot up to Naruto's eyes, he only saw cold glaciers in them, sending shivers up and down his spin before his eyes met the floor again. He nodded his head sadly, "y-yes, I remember.." he took a chance and asked, "is this to punish me for what I did to you?"

 

Naruto was silent for a long time as he filled out a few more answers on Shino's test before answering. "No," Shikamaru's shocked eyes managed to look up into Naruto's a bit longer this time, the blond continued, "you are not being punished for last night. In fact..." he went on as he finished Shino's test and turned back to his own, which he had yet to start himself. "You are not being punished anymore," he wrote his name on the paper and started it, he decided that he was going to take the top score from Sasuke this time, so he marked all the right answers, not that he needed a cheat sheet, the test was easy as shit after all.

 

"Y-you're not, b-but then..." Shikamaru started.

 

"But nothing, like I said, you are no longer being punished...you are being honored," the blond marked two answers before glancing up to gage Shikamaru's reaction. It was as expected, shocked, awed, and curious, the usual Nara trifecta.

 

"Honored? How? For what?" Shikamaru asked, his curiosity over ridding his previous fears of the blond. 

 

Naruto scoffed, "you're parents handed you over to me the moment that drunk sent you my way. You don't know it yet, but you made the right choice when you actually tried to apologie this morning, I was angry, so I wasn't thinking straight. Though I am sorry that I knocked you out and you had to wake up to my clones gang rapping you in retaliation, but I'm not going to say that I didn't enjoy my little revenge." He turned back to his test, "you should be happy that I didn't dismember you as soon as I knocked you out or else we wouldn't be having this conversation."

 

Shikamaru was stunned, "you would actually kill a fellow-"

 

"Fellow what?' Naruto's eyes shot towards Shikamaru so fast that it made the other boy flinch, "you and this village is nothing more than people who are content on ignoring the obvious signs and going for what was easiest. You, Shikamaru, will learn the hard way what life was truly like for me if you ever make those foolish assumptions again. Understood?" 

 

The temperature in the room felt as if it had dropped forty degrees around them, the Nara gulped, "what-what happens now?" He asked but he was scared of what the answer would be.

 

Naruto filled out another answer, going on to the next one before slowly turning back to Shikamaru, he smiled at his mightly. "Why, you'll marry me, of course."

 

"What! But, but, but I'm a guy, I can't-" Again Shikamaru was interrupted by the blond.

 

"Sure you can, you gave yourself to me last night, don't you remember? So why not?" The blond turned to his clones who were split between watching their conversation and messing with the other zombified students. One of them was in the middle of cutting the hair of some of the more vocal fangirls, Naruto did his best to keep serious, but that was hard, he cleared his throat, "guys, you can finish that some other time."

 

The clones that were cutting the girls pouted but left them alone to see what their creator wanted, "what's up boss?"

 

"I want you guys two of you to go to the Hokage's office to get some paperwork for mine and Shika-chan's pending wedding. Then I want the rest of you to help move all of his things from his home into mine by the end of the day," Naruto ordered.

 

Shikamaru shook his head, he couldn't believe this, "wait, no! You can't do that, there are laws and procedures to go through, if you want to be married, you need to be at least eight teen or older or be a genin." He protested, "and both of our parents would need to sign off on the marriage proposal, and it needs to be approved by the Hokage! Naruto, please, listen to him, you-I-this is too rushed, we need to talk this out a little more. Come on man, I like you, but not enough to get married to you, can't we just stay friends?"

 

Naruto frowned at the other boy as he finished his test, he got up and started to gather up the remaining test papers. "Shikamaru, I am only doing this because, since you unknowingly bonded yourself to me, you no longer have the choice of marrying me or not. I am sorry to tell you this, but because of your actions last night, you are slowly going to see things my way and your opinion will change during that time, I don't feel like getting into all the details right now. However, you should know that because of last night, you are now pregnant."

 

"Pregnant!? Okay, just hold on a minute there, I know I slept a lot in class, but my mom made sure I understood where babies came from!" Shikamaru said with a light blush on his face, he still hated thinking about the talk of the birds and the bee's they had one-day last year while his dad was off on a mission. He had nightmares of bleeding female parts for a month after that, the thought of a woman's 'time of the month' made his stomach turn for so many reasons it wasn't funny. "And-and besides, I'm a guy!" He all but shouted, Naruto turned towards him, gave him one look, smirked, then turned back to pick up the last of the papers before bringing them to Iruka's desk with the others. Shikamaru blushed when he noticed that Naruto was checking him out as he passed him by, "I'm a guy!" He yelled again, which was rare for Nara's to do, his blush getting brighter due to his embarrassment, "even if your perverted mind thinks otherwise," he said softly with a pout on his lips. Unknowingly making himself look more girly.

 

Naruto chuckled softly, he put down the papers and made his way back over to the Shikamaru with a blank test paper. He put an arm around the blushing Nara, "Shika-chan, listen to me, this might be for the best, I'm sorry you have to go through this, I was planning on easing you into this from the start, but then I got drunk. When I get drunk, well, last night happened. But trust me, I won't let this happen again to anyone else, and now that you are going to be my mate, I'm going to tell you now, this can go one of two ways." 

 

"Which would be?" Shikamaru asked trying to get the blond's arm off of his shoulder, but Naruto's hand only went down to his waist.

 

Pulling Shikamaru closer to him, he whispered in his hear, "you could accept this and go with the flow like you've always done before. Play along and get used having me as a husband, along with other mates, and bare my children. You're already pregnant, so why not go with the flow now? It would be way better than the alternative, I promise to treat you right, you'll be my 'queen' and I'll always protect my family from danger." He got closer to Shikamaru as he lowered his voice a little more in his ear before nibbling the globe of Shikamaru's ear, earning a small whimper from his cross-dressing bride-to-be.

 

Shikamaru was trying not to let the feel of Naruto's breath against the side of his neck arouse him, but the events of the light before and their intense first time together kept flashing in his mind. He let out another whimper when he felt Naruto move behind him and hug him from the back, letting him feel the blond's half hard cock in his pants rub against his ass. A shiver went up his spine as he thought about being gently carest by the blond's strong arms, even those he was still sore from what the clones had done to him only an hour before, his body couldn't help but get hot when Naruto started to lightly grind himself against him. He could just feel the smirk on the Naruto's face as he tried to muffle the soft groans that were fighting to escape his lips, he forced these feelings down, however, to asked him a question, he wanted to be more professional than this. Even though it felt good to be held by Naruto, his Naruto, "w-what if I refuse?" He crocked out and nearly moaned when he felt one of the blond's hands dip under his skirt, stopping just before reaching his own dick.

 

The clones might have forgotten to give Shikamaru a pair of underwear to go with the skirt...

 

Naruto paused what he was doing for a moment to clear some of the lust induced fog clouding his mind, "then you...would become my slave and would have no voice...You would be nothing more than a baby machine that I would fuck into submission each and every night or at whenever I felt like I wanted to use you. You would be forced to please me whenever I want, wherever I wanted, and you would be unable to fight back or refuse me...Any child you would give birth to from my seed will be taken away from you and you will only see them when I want you to. You would be locked up in a room where there are no windows, no lights unless I want there to be. You would be chained to the floor or maybe the all, depending on how I feel, and if I feel like it...I would pass you around like a ragdoll to anyone who wished to release their pent frustrations in a sexual way. Then I would watch as the light of hope left your eyes everytime I disciplined you for disobeyed me in any way, using every method that I know to do so." He explained, watching as the color left Shikamaru's skin, no doubt picturing everything that he told him about, he stepped back from him, "but that's up to you. I could do a whole lot more than that, trust me, I've seen the worst of the worst, and that would only be merciful on my part..." Shikamaru was silent as he talked. Naruto Stepped all the way back from Shikamaru so there were two feet between them, he turned him around to face him, he lifted his chin to look into his dark brown eyes. "Which do you chose?"

 

Shikamaru looked into Naruto's eyes, searching. They were no longer cold icicles anymore, nor were they the restless sea that he was used to looking into in the past. They were calm as the sky on a clear day, though they held darkness within them, it wasn't so dark as before. He could see hurt, pain, compassion, sympathy, hate, every emotion that he could think to describe were held within those eyes. Shikamaru opened and closed his mouth a couple times, but there was no sound coming out. Finally, after what felt like hours had passed, he spoke, "I...I can't say that I love you, I don't know if I could learn how to do that right now," he took in a deep breath. "Troublesome," he muttered as his emotions raged inside f him, he didn't know what or how to feel right now, "I choose..."

 

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To be continued...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Paring options are open, I'm taking votes so message me if you want to see your favorte Naruto paring make an entrance in future chapters!


	4. The Apprentice 2: Wedding bells ring

**Nara compound**

 

 

Yoshino was not a very happy person at the moment. She had just come home from finding her husband at one of his friend's house. But her mood went from bad to worse in a matter of seconds as soon as she walked through the house after giving her husband an earful. Yesterday, Yoshino had gotten home late after having a gossip fest in the market with some of her friends, who were the wives of her husband's old teammates. Because she had gotten home so late, she had started dinner late, when she was in the middle of making dinner for the members of her loving family being her lazy husband, her equally lazy, if not more so, son, and of course, herself. Yet when she saw that her husband had yet to come home, she sent her son out to look for him, knowing he would have to be at the bar with his friends. Yoshino was then severely pissed off when, by the time she had finished dinner, neither her son nor husband had brought their lazy asses to the table! She waited up for both of them until two in the morning before putting the two, now cold, dinners in the fridge for them to eat later when they got home. By morning time, she thought that her husband would have snuck into bed while she was sleeping like he has done in the past when he got home late from work or a mission, but upon waking, she found that she had slept alone. She was angry, so angry in fact that she thought she would need to vent her anger to someone that had no choice but to listen, who better to do that with than her lazy son? She needed to get him up for the test he was supposed to have this morning so he could become a ninja, so it was sort of a win-win, for her. But what did she find when did she find when she entered his room this morning? Not him. There was a bed that was made up since yesterday and a shogi board that had some of its pieces lying about around it from a previous game that was had on it the day before. But no son. Yoshino was then supper pissed now, so she left the house, without making breakfast, to hunt down her missing husband like the dog he truly was. Only, when she came home, ranting and raving to her hungover husband, she felt a faint trace of someone leaving the house, but she was still way too worked up to stop ranting to see if it was her son or not. When she finally did calm down, she marched up to Shikamaru's room only to find...

 

Nothing.

 

No bed.

No desk.

No dresser or nightstand.

No clothes in his closet.

No anything.

 

It was as if the room had just been cleaned out!

 

"SHIKAKU!" Yoshino screamed for her husband with all the fear and rage she had in her to let him know that if he didn't appear in front of her right now, there would be hell to pay.

 

Shikaku appeared in the room next to his wife, a clear sign of fear and some nausea on his face from the speed he took to get there. "What is it, Yoshino-chan?" He asked while holding his head together, trying to keep it from splitting.

 

Yoshino turned angry eyes to her husband, "don't 'Yoshino-chan' me! Look at this room, do you know what's missing?" She demanded, ready to beat him down if he answered wrong.

 

Shikaku, in all his hungover glory, looked about the room, taking in everything that was in there. Which was nothing? He knew his wife wanted an answer, but the room looked like one of the other room that they had yet to make into a guest room yet, so he was about to say 'there was something in here?' when he looked at the view outside the window of the room. That's when it hit him,  _"this is Shikamaru's room, but...where's-"_ he then quickly spotted a letter scroll sitting in the center of the room. He walked over to it, he noted that there was a symbol on it, one he had not seen in years, he opened it and his eyes grew wider and wider as he got down to the bottom.

 

Yoshino, seeing her husband reading something that got his attention off of her, was not pleased. She walked over to him and made to grab the scroll away from when to see what it said, but he held it away from her, this got her mad all over again, "Shikaku, you better-"

 

She was cut off, however by Shikaku turning and leaving the room out the window, dropping the letter on the way. "I'm going to the Hokage for a bit," was all he got out as he jumped out the window and left the compound as quickly as he could. Ignoring his splitting headache that was further aggravated by the bright sun and the motion sickness that threatened to slow down or stop his speed completely. He needed to talk to the Hokage now, and no hangover was going to get in his way.

 

Meanwhile, Yoshino was fuming at her husband for leaving her alone once more. She looked down at the letter her husband had dropped in his rush and read it.

 

_ Dear Nara Family _

 

_ It is I, your future son-in-law, Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze. Yes, I know, its a shock to know that I found out who my parents are, but more than that, I know what you all have done. Not just you, but the whole village, and I am aiming to take my revenge, but don't worry. It will not be flashy or initially seen by all. Oh, no, no, no, despite what my past pranks say about me, the Naruto that you knew was nothing but a mask. A fake. A cover to get me through life without being painfully dismembered before my fourth birthday when  I met the Kyuubi. Yes, I know the Kyuubi, it really wasn't all that hard to put two and two together. After all, when you have a whole village of people calling you the Kyuubi and saying things like 'this is for my wife that you killed' or 'let's finish what the Yondime started', it was just too easy to figure that out. Anyways, let me get straight to the point now, which is, I'm marrying your son! Yep, congratulations, mom, dad, you get to have me as you loving son-in-law now. But fear not, I know you guys would want grandchildren at some point, so last night, I took care of that for you. Your welcome. Ah yes, you may be wondering how that's possible, well, let us just say that us demons like the idea of having our own families so much that we find any way possible to make that happen. The wedding will be within two weeks, you can go ask the Hokage all about it, I'm sure he's found the paperwork that was left for him by now, so go ahead. I look forward to seeing you soon. _

 

_ With love _

_ Naruto Uzumaki Namikage _

_ Kyuubi Jinturiki _

 

Yoshino dropped the letter as if it had stung her. The demon is the son of her dearest, best friend, Kushina Uzumaki? How could that be? How could she not have seen the resemblance? He looked so much like Minato, aside from the whisker marks, and had Kushina's personality with all those pranks. How could anyone have not seen it until now?! Where they really that blind? Yoshino quickly picked up the letter again and read it through, she didn't understand the part about him 'taking care of the grandchildren problem last night' but she knew one thing. Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze was going to marry her son. Her best friends son, who had been so badly mistreated by not only the village but herself as well, she knew she had to make it up to him somehow and if marrying her son was a way to start, then that's how she would start! Yoshino rolled up the letter scroll in her hand and took off after her husband to go see the Hokage, she had to make sure that she did everything she could to make things right between her and Naruto, he was the last living thing connected to Kushina and Whirlpool, not to mention that if he took after his parents, he was a genius in the making! She had to the Hokage see that they would be in a world of hurt if he ever took out his actual revenge on the whole village. They probably wouldn't see it coming, it had happened before if the legends were anything to go by, and the ones that had a letter involved were the worst of them all. 

* * *

**Hokage tower**

 

Hiruzen was puzzled. He could not believe what had just happened. He was called away to an hour-long council meeting about the graduates when the alarm in his office went off. He got up to see what it was and fully expected to walk in to see his ANBU restraining the culprit with knives and swords. But that was not the case. He walked into his office to see everything as he had left it, the only thing that showed anyone had even been in his office or the office was disturbed, was a broken window. The glass was sprayed outwards and it looked like someone had thrown a small rock or a ball through the window as a means to escape. Only, the hole was just big enough to fit a person's fist, not a whole body, small or otherwise. He got Ibiki to interview the ANBU in the room to see why they had not seen anyone enter or leave the room, the wall safes were checked and had everything they held still there, and there was no sign of tampering of his paperwork or other effects in the office. It was a mystery to see how his alarm went off when there was nothing missing, taken, stolen or added to his office that was not there before. That, however, was almost two hours ago and everything had been checked over, if there really had been a thief in the office, then they were merely there for sport rather than to steal anything of substance that would harm the village. Since then Hiruzan had settled down to do his work once more, not going back to the council meeting because he really didn't want to hear them debate on who would make the best teammates for the last Uchiha of the village. He was nearing the bottom of one of the paper stacks on his desk when he came across a document that he found to be rather strange in nature. Not because there was anything wrong with it, it was a normal marriage document, he's seen and signed thousands of them each day. However, the thing that bothered him about this document was the names on it. 

 

Shikamaru Nara as the bride.

 

...And Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze as the husband.

 

Hiruzen's internal alarm bells were going off at top volume. Questions ran through his mind, where did this document come from? Who made it? Why these two names. How did this person know of Naruto's heritage? Why did they want them to marry? What power would this person gain if they did? Did Shikamaru's parents know about this? Dis Shikamaru know about this? He would have thought of more questions, but then his jonin commander appeared in his office, he gave the man a pointed look. "Shikaku-san?" He asked, a slight edge in his voice, the man before him looked like he had just been chewed out and spit up, there was also a panicked look in his eye, he didn't like it when his jonin commander looked panicked. He really didn't like the fact that a  _Nara_ looked panicked by anything. "Is there something wrong?"

 

Shikaku took in a couple deep breaths, trying to get his breathing under control, "Hokage-sama, did you just find or receive a marriage proposal to my son to Naruto by any chance?" He asked breathlessly, his late-night partying was not agreeing with his morning activities at all. His only hope was to not throw up in front of his leader, he would never live down the embarrassment if he did at this moment. Even though his stomach was urging him to let loose its content.

 

Hiruzen's eyes narrowed, "yes, at a matter of fact I did...do you know anything about that?" 

 

Shikamaru shook his head, "no, but I would like to approve it," he said as he calmed down a bit.

 

"Approve it? Shikaku-san, are you quite alright?" Hiruzen asked as he looked at the man in front of him, "why would you want to approve a gay marriage between your heir and Naruto-Kun? You know the rules about such things."

 

Shikaku nodded his head, "yes, Hokage-sama, I do, but I have my reasons and I would like to approve the marriage."

 

The Sarutobi looked at the Nara with a calculating look, "are you sure about that? It will cause a lot of problems in the future, more importantly, you would have to either make or find a new heir for your clan if you go through with this."

 

Shikaku shook his head, "I don't think that will be necessary," he said as he walked over to one of the visitors chairs and sat down. His head was starting to settle down now that he was taking it easy, Hiruzen raised an eyebrow at the man.

 

"Oh, is that so?" He asked as he clasped his hands together in front of him on the desk, "care to explain?"

 

Shikaku was about to speak, until Yoshino rush into the room with a scroll in her hand, "Hokage-sama, excuse my rudeness."

 

She bowed before the Hokage before stepping forward at his waving off the politeness. "What can I do for you, Yoshino-san?"

 

Yoshino took in a deep breath, "did you receive a marriage proposal for my son and Naruto to marry?" She asked.

 

Hiruzen looked between the husband and wife, they seem to be coming onto the same page, so he offered her the seat next to her husband. "Shikaku-san was actually going to tell me a bit about that, he said he wanted me to approve the proposal...am I to assume that you are here to contest it?" He asked her, knowing that she had not always like his adoptive grandson much in the past, however, he knew that she did not know Naruto was actually the son of her dearest friend before her passing. He wondered briefly if somehow she had found out about that and was willing to change her ways now that she knew.

 

Yoshino looked at her husband, who gave her a nod, before turning back to Hiruzan, "earlier this morning, we got home to find out son's room completely empty."

 

"What? Is he alright?" Hiruzen asked, fully prepared to have a group of his ninja's go out to find their son. After all, a clan heir was essential to any clan, "when was the last time you saw him?"

 

"Last night," Yoshino spoke, quickly adding, "but we don't think he's missing, not...not anymore, at least." The old Kage looked at the couple in confusion, Yoshino saw the look and placed the letter she brought on the des of their leader, "we found this in his room."

 

Hiruzen took the scroll and read it over, his eyes grew wide, but then he nodded his head and re-rolled the scroll back up. He placed it back on his desk and brought out the marriage proposal he found with Naruto's and Shikamaru's name on it. He knew now who the document had come from, he wasn't sure how he got it into his office without ANBU noticing him, but he would have time to ask about that some other time. He looked at the couple once more before picking up an ink pen, "do you, Shikaku and Yoshino Nara, parents of the bride, approve the marriage of your son, Shikamaru Nara, to his husband, Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze?"

 

"I...do," Yoshino said as she took in a deep, calming breath, this was to make amends for all she had to that boy.

 

"I do," Shikaku stated quicker than his wife, he placed a hand on his wife's hand to calm her a little as they watched their Hokage legalize their son's marriage.

 

"Then I, Hiruzen Sarutobi, Sandime Hokage, approve this marriage," the kage then signed the document and placed his seal of approval in the right sport. He then filed the papers away when the parents signed their names to show that they approved of this willingly. He turned back to them, "so, where are the new couple? I would like to talk to them."

 

Shikaku and Yoshino looked at each other, a small conversation going between them, "we aren't sure at the moment." Shikaku starred as he turned back to their leader, "but if the letter is anything to go by, they would be together...probaby at the academy right now."

 

The Sandime nodded and stood up, a small smile on his face, "then that's where we will be as well."

* * *

**Academy**

 

"I choose..." Shikamaru looked down, not knowing what to say. His emotions were all over the place right now, could he learn to love Naruto? He placed a hand on his stomach, still not believing that he was supposed to be pregnant, he then nodded to him. "I choose...the baby." He looked up at Naruto, a small fire burning within him, "I don't know if I am ready for all of this, but if I really am pregnant, then I want to take care of my child..o-our child...I want it to grow up with both parents and be happy, so, even though we're not really in love...We can still be there of it, right?"

 

Naruto didn't know if he should be happy that Shikamaru accepted his proposal. Sad that Shikamaru didn't really want to be with him. Or jealous that he lost to his unborn child...Either way, he finally got his first mate, so not he could move on to bigger and better things, like picking his apprentice. With a small smile on his face, Naruto placed a gentle kiss on Shikamaru's lips, earning a blush from the other boy. He smirked, it may not be love, but he could live with this. "Fine, good answer," he said as he pulled away from Shikamaru, "now then, on to the next thing."

 

Shikamaru blinked, clearing the fog that had momentarily entered his brain, "the next thing?"

 

"YEP!" Naruto said as he retrieved a blank test paper from the front desk, "I want you to fill up this test the best you can. When you're done, I'll remove the genjutsu on the class and we can get to the real part of the exam that will test our skills."

 

Shikamaru took the paper and looked at it, after all his years in the academy, he found the final test to be the most boring. He knew all the answers on it and he wished that the academy had challenged him more. Maybe he would have found being there less troublesome if they were learning things that were below genin level, as opposed to learning things on genin level during their last year in the academy. He felt that any civilian taking the academy classes seriously would pass with flying colors no problem, simply because that was the level he felt the academy was teaching them: a high civilian level. Shikamaru sighed and walked over to his desk to fill out the test, Naruto sat down at his desk to wait, and to have a little talk with Kyuubi, he figured they had a few minutes to spare before ending the jutsu on the class, so he entered his mindscape.

* * *

**Shadow Realm**

 

"Ne, sensei, got any ideas for an apprentice? I can't decide amongst them because of how lame their skills seem," Naruto said in a bored tone as he appeared before his sensei's sleeping form.

 

Kyuubi was in his human form once again, since he wasn't inside the cage/cave, he had a collar around his neck that said 'seal' on it instead. It was a helpful alternative to being stuck in the cage of a sewer all the time. He could stretch his legs now, so he liked the deal very much. Kyuubi yawned, "I don't know kit, I was thinking about it myself, I had it narrowed down to the big user or the dog boy. I would never allow an Uchiha to be your apprentice though, too arrogant." 

 

Naruto nodded, "maybe I can help him break out of his asshole-like self?"

 

Kyuubi opened an eye to look at his charge, "you want the Uchiha?"

 

Naruto gave a fox-like grin, "he would make a good fuck toy, wouldn't he? Besides, shaking him out of his arrogance ways might be fun," Kyuubi raised an eyebrow at that.

 

"You're a kinky little shit, aren't you?" He smirked, "alright, have it your way, however, if you are going to do that, I suggest that you lock his bloodline."

 

Naruto thought about that for a moment, it seemed like a reasonable idea, "lock his eyes so that he can't steal jutsus and cause trouble for us like that masked man. Alright, that sounds fair...would be able to pass it down to his children?"

 

"You mean your children. Hmm, that depends on how you lock them," Kyuubi explained. "One way, you could place a seal on the back of his neck and lock it that way, he would not be able to use it for a time, since that way has a time limit. Another way is, you can seal his eyes by surgically taking them out and putting the seals right on his eyeballs before putting hem back, but that has a chance for blindness and the inability to pass down the bloodline at all. Another way, you could place a sealing liquid into him that would take away the bloodline from him altogether, but then all the children he births would never be able to have those eyes again. Then again, there is a way to alter that method to work in your favor, but it all depends on how you mix the stuff up."

 

Naruto looked at the Kyuubi in awe, "there's such a thing called 'sealing liquid'? As in a seal that is liquid in nature? How is that possible, I thought you could only use seals on parchment with ink."

 

Kyuubi chuckled as he sat up, "yes, there is such a thing, but its also known as potions, a sort of a liquid seal that goes way back to the witch's era. The way it works is that you gather ingredients that will have a strong effect on or against the person so you could control them more effectively. Then you mix it all together while chanting a spell that would activate the potions properties, after that, all you have to do is make them drink it and wait."

 

Naruto took down notes as Kyuubi spoke, "okay, I'll have to try that out later, but for right now, let's get back to the apprentice thing. I have a list of names that might work out," he explained as he out the notepad that materialized from thin air into his jacket. "First I was thinking about using Shino because he would make a great spy with a little training, Kiba might work because he works hard in his training, with a little guidance, he could turn into something more than a rabid dog. Ino and Sakura are too much of fangirls to teach right now, although I do hold out some hope for Yamanaka. Sasuke's out. Chouji could work, but I want him to get some field experience in before I take him under my wing. And...Hinata."

 

Kyuubi's ears perked up when he heard the shy girls name, "the Hyuuga boy's cousin?" He asked Naruto nodded, "why her? She's all shy and timid and, well, looks pretty weak to me."

 

Naruto smirked, "ah, but that's where your wrong, sensei," Kyuubi's tails flicked behind him in interest. Naruto continued once he saw that the fox wasn't going to say anything, "yeah, Hinata may look like all those things, but, think about how loyal she would be if I took her under my wing. She's had a crush on me since I saved her by standing up to all those bullies a few years back, she stalks me almost everywhere I go, I'm surprised that she didn't try to get into the new house when I moved. Actually, now that I think about it, I've been thinking about training her for a longer time now. It's just that the way she's so timid and the way that her family seems to treat her like she's useless really gets to me, y'know? In that regard, I want to make her a monster!"

 

Kyuubi laughed, his container was surely the funniest thing he's seen in years, "a monster eh? How so?" He laughed more.

 

Naruto pouted at his sensei, "okay, maybe monster isn't what I was going for, but I want to make her strong. Like you said, the Hyuuga's are divided, the way it seems to me is that Hinata's not like the rest of them. She's quite and stuff, she likes to think things through, but, if anyone could bring that clan together, it would be her, don't you think so, sensei?"

 

Kyuubi smirked at his pupil, "yes, yes, well then, I think you should talk to her as soon as you can. No, better yet, bring her to the other realm as soon as you can get a chance, I'll head over there too so I can meet her. We can take about, maybe seven years to whip her into shape before returning and showing her off, maybe let her family knows what's up, what you think about that?" He asked after taking a thinking pose, the other realm would be the second shadow realm that they made together to mirror Naruto's mind, Kyuubi could only go there and be allowed out of the seal if Naruto was also there. One full year in the shadow real would equal one day in the real world, they would be that realm for years and year, honing their kills along that time, and still come out with the same level of skills they had gotten within the real once they return. It would be a huge difference from when they left and depending on how closely they were being watched, they would rarely be missed, a win-win situation in Kyuubi's book.

 

Naruto smiled happily at his sensei, one of his true smiles, "that sounds greats," then a thought suddenly hit him. "Wait, if I take Shikamaru there too, would that speed up his pregnancy?" A picture of Shikamaru's belly swollen with his child came into his mind, then replaced itself with a picture of the said boy holding a seven-year-old that shared their looks equally. It gave him a warm feeling inside that thing humans called a heart, which he had never felt before.

 

Kyuubi thought for a moment, "maybe, we've never brought anyone there before, let alone someone that was expecting. It might, but it might speed up in the way that you're thinking of," Kyuubi closed his eyes as the remembered the formula they used to create the dimension they were talking about. "Based on my calculations, by the time we come back, if you bring your mate there, we might have knocked off a few weeks from his pregnancy. Maybe a month, but I can't be completely sure."

 

Naruto nodded as pictures of his soon to be family paid over and over in his mind, a small smile spread across his face as he imagined what it would be like to be a father.

* * *

**Classroom**

 

Shikamaru had finished the test in no less than ten minutes when he got up from his seat to walk over to the front desk. He passed by Naruto's seat and saw the smile spreading across his face, he looked so happy, peaceful even. Shikamaru's blush returned and he hurried to put his paper with the rest before returning to Naruto's side, he didn't want to take away that smile from the bond's face, it suited him better than the fake one that he always wore. Now that Shikamaru saw the real deal, he knew that all the other times he had seen Naruto smile before was fake, this was his real smile. A smile graced his face as well, he wasn't sure how long he stood there staring at Naruto, but he knew that he shouldn't just b standing there staring at him. He looked around the room for a moment, he knew he had to get the rest of the test going before they last any more time, so he worked fast.

* * *

**Shadow Realm**

 

Kyuubi was just about to go back to sleep when he felt someone trying to wake his student. Looking through his eyes, he saw who it was and smirked, "yo, kit, it's time for you to wake up!" He said as he whacked Naruto upside the head with one of his tails. 

 

"OWW! Whatcha do that for?!" Naruto asked as he came back to his mind and rubbed his cheek.

 

"Time to wake up, you have a test you finish, don't you?" Kyuubi stated.

 

"Huh?" Naruto blinked his eyes before remembering why he was inside his mindscape again, "oh yeah! See later sensei," he smiled as he faded out of his mind.

 

Kyuubi shook his head, "that kid is something else," he mumbled before going back to his nap.

* * *

 

**Classroom**

 

When Naruto came back to his body, he noticed something different, he wasn't sitting next to Sakura anymore. He would have known if he was because he could sense how well toned her chakra was, even though the rest of her was not so well honed. He turned to his left to see who had replaced her and saw that it was Shikamaru, who was staring at him oddly. The two stared at each other for a second before Shikamaru blushed a bright red and Naruto smirked, he didn't say anything about the fact that Shikamaru was staring at him in an awed way. Making him look a lot like a doe. He ended the jutsu before the doe-boy could say anything to embarrass himself more, when he did, everyone else in the classroom went about their day as if nothing had happened.

 

Iruka shook his head a little, he left as if he had been standing in the same spot for an hour. He looked up to see that everyone was in their seats, but there were no papers on their desk. He could have sworn that the had given them out, he looked at his desk to see the stacks of papers. He picked them up, thinking that he would be giving them out again when he saw that they were all filled out, all of them. He thought that this was odd, but then he remembered that he did give them out and everyone had taken the test. He brushed off the feeling as something to do with the stress that came with the end of every year and this year was more stressful because his class was the one that was graduating, on top of that, he had the last Uchiha in his class, so the council was watching him closely. He shook off those thoughts and turned to the dazed kids in their seats, he chalked that up to the test being either hard for some because they didn't study or tiredness because some were too excited or nervous to get a lot of sleep last night. 

 

"Alright everyone, line up at the door and Mizuki-sensei will take you outside for the second part of the test!" Iruka called out, getting the attention of his students, some looked confused but got up and followed the white-haired sensei outside. Iruka turned back to the papers in his hands, "okay, let's get to work."

* * *

**Outside**

 

Everyone gathered up in front of Mizuki as he explained the rules for the second test. They were standing in front a target dummy that seemed about ready to fall, the goal of this test was to see who could hit the bullseye painted on the dummy with the most weapons. They would be given extra points if they could hit at least five at the center. Mizuki called everyone to line up, making Naruto go last so that everyone could see him fail, as per their agreement. Unfortunately, Naruto does not remember such an agreement with Mizuki, that or he had blocked out the memory and was going to pass with flying colors no matter what before he was going to fail in front of his classmates again. Honestly, this would most likely be his last day seeing most of them in the academy setting again, so why should he let them see him fail the final test to test him more? Not going to happen.

 

When it was Naruto's turn, everyone expected him to miss all of his attempts. But he didn't. Naruto grabbed all ten of the Kuni he was meant to throw at the target and threw them all at once. they hit the bullseye dead center. Next, he grabbed all twenty of the shuriken and threw them, they hit dead center as well. 

 

"He cheated!" Came the screams of his would be classmates.

 

"THERE'S NO WAY A DOBE COULD BE BETTER THAN SASUKE-KUN!!" Came the scream of a certain Haruno, Kyuubi had kept the genjutsu over her hand so she wouldn't feel any pain, and no one would know she was hurt until after. By now her hand was turning a few different shades of color that were not good for her hand, Naruto knew this because he could see through Kyuubi's genjutsu, a side effect of being his current container.

 

Naruto looked at Mizuki, daring him to say otherwise. The look in his eyes told the older man that he would tell his secret if he denied him an honest score, so Mizuki begrudgingly allowed the blond to pass. "Sorry, Haruno-san, but there is no way that you can cheat in throwing Kuni and Shuriken, let's move on to the next part," Mizuki said as he walked away from the target post.

 

By the time that they got to the next part, Iruka had joined them with somewhat of a puzzled look on his face. "This part of the test is taijutsu, the first person to get their opponent out of the ring under five minute is the winner. The one that gets the person out of the ring in under a minute will get extra points and will be eligible for rookie of the year..." All the students cheered at that, Iruka smiled, he loved to see the determination in his student's eyes, it meant that they were willing to do what it takes. "The rules are, you can only use taijutsu, no jutsu or weapons are allowed," he called the first set of people to the ring, it was a couple of civilian kids. the fight was poor quality, not very entertaining at all, Naruto blocked those fights and those that he found equally boring out of his mind. When it came to Hinata's fight, he watched Hinata's moves and analyzed her skills, they were fair, but work clearly needed to be done. Finally, it was his turn, "Naruto Uzumaki, against Sasuke Uchiha. Please enter the ring."

 

Naruto walked over to the lined circle of a ring with Sasuke. The Uchiha smirked, not realizing that all the fights that they had before now, Naruto had been holding back. A lot. "Ready to lose, dobe," the Uchiha taunted.

 

Naruto didn't take the bate, "are we just going to take Uchiha or are we going to fight?" 

 

Sasuke growled at being dismissed so easily, "you won't be talking so tough when I beat you!" He said as he got into a fighting stance, he growled again when he saw Naruto only standing there, not moving a muscle. 

 

"Are you two ready? Hajime!" 

 

Sasuke rushed out at the sound of the sensei starting the match, he was aiming to win the match in one blow, securing the spot of Rookie of the Year. Only, when he went to hit Naruto, Naruto disappeared from his sights and he felt something heave being brought down on his back. The next thing he knew, he was picking himself up from the ground, he looked around for Naruto, he found him standing behind him as if nothing ever happened.  _"How did he? Never mind, it doesn't matter, I will win!"_ He got up again and ran towards Naruto.

 

Naruto could see Sasuke coming a mile away, he could see all of his moves, this was not a fight, this wasn't even a fight. Sasuke seemed to slow to him that it was painful to watch, Naruto decided to end the match early. He waited until Sasuke got close to him again before delivering a swift punch to the Uchiha's stomach, knocking out all the air from his body before delivering a kick to his side. He sent Sasuke flying into his cheering fangirls before anyone realized what really happened. Naruto checked the time on the alarm clock that Iruka had set before the match started, he saw that it had only been twelve seconds since they started. He sighed, "what a waste," he went back to standing next to Shikamaru, who had yet to leave his side since they came out of the classroom. People seem to notice that and moved to comment on it.

 

"Shikamaru, why are you dressed like that?" Asked Kiba as he eyed Shikamaru strangely, Naruto didn't like that look in his eyes.

 

"Because I made, is that a problem, dog breath?" Naruto asked as he moved to stand between Kiba and Shikamaru, he placed a possessive hand on Shikamaru's shoulder and pulled him close to him. Shikamaru melted into his side easily, a blush spreading on his cheeks that he could not hide for the life of him.

 

"Huh? You? I didn't know that you swung that way man," Kiba said raised an eyebrow at him, he thought that Shikamaru's new look was pretty hot.

 

"What the hell are you into? Shikamaru's a guy you sicko!" Ino yelled after she missed Sasuke's body almost crashing into her's, she let Sakura take the fall for her. She may like Sasuke, but she doesn't want to get hurt because of him.

 

Naruto looked over to his fellow blond, "what are you talking about now, Ino? You're always going on and on about how your love for Uchiha-san was so great that you would win him over with beauty alone. Now you want to come over here and talk about what I like?"

 

"Of course, seeing two guys together is disgusting! I mean seriously, where would the baby come out? It doesn't work that way?" Ino ranted as everyone got around them to back her up.

 

Naruto looked them all in the eye, "is that so, Ino-san?" 

 

"Obviously it is, weren't you listening to a word Iruka sensei was saying when he talking about the birds and the bees with us last year?" Sakura jumped into the conversation once she managed to get from under Sasuke's unconscious body. Feeling up his butt as she checked to see if he was okay.

 

"I'm sorry Haruno-san, but from what I remember, most of you ganged up on me that day and got me kicked out. You lied about who was throwing things at Iruka-sensei's head while he was teaching when it was clearly Kiba and Ino, but when Iruka-sensei asked the class who it was, you all pointed at me." Naruto explained bitterly, he looked them all in the eye, daring them to lie to him about that again, none could match his eye except for Shikamaru since he was out with a cold that day.

 

Iruka cleared his throat when no one said another word, he had been frustrated that day and did not want to deal with a rowdy class that day. When someone kept throwing stuff at his head that morning, he had had enough of it and turned to the student that was responsible, when everyone pointed at Naruto, he had been all too happy to kick the boy out. Now that he saw he had punished the wrong student all that time ago, he thought it was only fair to deduct points from them now, seeing as how Naruto was always the scapegoat anytime anyone else did something wrong. "I see, so since you all have silently admitted having wronged Naruto-kun that say, it seems only fair that you all pay the price now, right?" He asked as he was already deducting fifteen points from their final scores.

 

The class groaned "actually Iruka-sensei, Shikamaru-chan was ou sick that day, and Hinata-san tried to stick up for me. However, due to her quiet voice, she was drowned out by the other's yelling about how guilty I supposedly was." Naruto explained to the scared chunin, he caught a glimpse of Hinata giving him a questioning looking, he gave her a look that said to go with it, even though it was true, Hinata didn't want to upset others by saying so. He knew that but still wanted to put in his two cents.

 

Iruka nodded and skipped over Hinata's and Shikamaru's name before turning back to the class, "Alright everyone, that's it for this part of the test. We will be moving onto genjutsu dispelling before heading inside for the finals and that will be the end of the genin exams. The final grades will be posted by next week Monday and team placement will be that Friday, understand?"

 

No one said anything, they were all busy glaring at Naruto, except for Hinata and Shikamaru, of course. Sasuke just managed to regain continues as everyone was walking over to another part of the training field. He glared at Naruto, feeling like it was his fault that this happened, that he was defeated so easily. Or something, Sasuke wasn't thinking straight at the moment. The genjutsu test was much quicker than the other test, all they had to do was dispell the illusion placed on them in under twenty-second to pass. Ino took ten seconds, Sakura took nine, Shino eights, Kiba twelve, Hinata six, Chouji fourteen, Sasuke five, Shikamaru four, and Naruto was in the lead with three seconds. After that, they went inside for the final test, they were all placed in the classroom and told to wait until their turn. Shikamaru sat down next to Naruto, their seat was in the same place as when they left, which meant Sakura was next to Chouji again, and she did not like that one bit.

 

"Hey dobe, get out of my seat!" Sakura yelled after Iruka and Mizuki sensei left the room with the first student.

 

Naruto still had his arm around Shikamaru, much to the Nara's unexpected pleasure. He looked up at the pinkette as if she was the more annoying thing on the planet, which was when Sakura realized that those eyes no longer admired her. They no longer praised the ground she walked upon as if it was blessed by the gods themselves. Deep down inside, she felt hurt at the loss of her only admirer, ever. "Eh? YOUR seat? Since when has this been YOUR seat? I don't remember Iruka-sensei giving out assigned seats at any point since we started, I don't remember your name being here when I sat down this morning. In fact, I was sitting her first, Haruno, so why don't you go back to your seat next to Chouji?"

 

Sakura frowned, but she could not let anyone see her back down, it would ruin her reputation. "No, I was here first, and I was sitting right there!" She pointed to the seat that Shikamaru was seated in next to Naruto, which so happened to put him in the middle of the row. So he was also sitting next to...Sasuke.

 

Shikamaru looked over at the Uchiha, "oi, Uchiha-san, do you want Haruno-san sitting here?" He asked, he got a glare in return that would freeze over hell of it could, it sent shivers down Sakura's spine, he smirked up at Sakura, "I guess that's a not." He then got settled down into Naruto's side once more, reveling in his scent of summer and spring mixed together.

 

Sakura pouted as she saw the look of bliss on Shikamaru's face, wishing that was her and Sasuke. "Well? Go on, if teme doesn't want to sit next to you, then why are you bothering us?" Naruto asked.

 

Sakura growled animalistic at Naruto as she raised her hand, unknowing that it was the same hand that he had crashed earlier. "Don't call Sasuke-Kun that!" She yelled and brought the hand down on Naruto, but he caught it, just like before, this time by the wrist.  _"Why does this feel so familiar?"_ She thought.

 

Naruto sighed, "some people will never learn," he said as he applied pressure until a cracking sound was heard. Everyone cringed when they heard the sound, it was clear to them no that this was no longer the Naruto that they so easily bullied all the time. Kyuubi decided to dropped the jutsu he had on her just then and let everyone remember what had happened earlier that day. Shock was not the right word to describe the looks on their faces, he looked around the room, "anyone else wants to try something with me?" Everyone stiffly shook their heads in fear, "good, now get back to years seats, there's a test going on!" He ordered and everyone was back in their seats in the blink of an eye, no one dared to look at Naruto in case they were the next person to feel his wrath. 

 

It was finally time for Naruto to be called. Everyone else that had already taken the last test was told to leave the building when they were done or they could wait outside for their friends or siblings. Shikamaru didn't want to leave, he didn't know why he felt the need to be by Naruto's side all of a sudden now, he was trying to reason with himself that it was probably because Naruto told him that he was pregnant with their child and he still felt guilty about earlier that morning, so he thought he compensating for it. Because of that, after he finished his test, he found himself waiting in the hallway for Naruto to finish his test. As he though more and more about why he was still waiting in the hall to see Naruto, his mind could not help but to wonder. Wonder about what it would be like to have Naruto's baby, would they be happy? Would it be a strange relationship? Would they break up one the child becomes old enough to live on their own or become a genin themselves? Would he want more kids with Naurot? Would Naruto want more with him? He couldn't imagine his life living with Naruto like his parents did, only staying together because they loved their child and they were forced to stay together because of them. Because of him. A deep frown came on to his face and he looked down at his feet, admiring the shiny black shoes that Naruto's clones put on him, his stocking covered legs that seemed so slim in them. It struck him that in a couple of months, he would not be able to see his legs or much of his feet and would be battling with gravity to not fall over. He sighed, "troublesome blond," he said as he placed a hand on his still flat stomach.

 

"I don't think that I'm that troublesome, Shika-chan," Said the father of his baby.

 

Shikamaru's head snapped up at the sound of his voice, "Naruto," he said as he looked the blond over. He noticed Iruka looking at him weirdly as if he just noticed that he was still a boy and not a girl like his outfit suggested.

 

Naruto smiled at him, "it's finally my turn," he said expectantly.

 

"Oh, yeah, um, g-good luck," Shikamaru said as butterflies fluttered around in his belly.

 

Naruto leaned over to him, "awe, aren't you gonna give me a good luck kiss?" He smirked as Shikamaru's face turned a darker pink.

 

"W-w-what?" He asked.

 

"Yeah, a good luck kiss, you want me to do well right? With a kiss from you, I know I will, so what do you say," Naruto asked as he leaned in closer to Shikamaru. He was loving the way Shikamaru's face was turning red, he wondered for a moment if his body was starting to give off that pheromone stuff that Kyuubi was talking about before and Shikamaru was entering a heat. Either way, he was looking forward to after this test was over, "you look good like that." He said as he got closer to the Nara and placed a hand on the wall next to his head, bringing their faces inches apart, "I can't wait to get you ho-"

 

"THAT'S ENOUGH NARUTO!!" Iruka yelled as he slammed a fist down over Naruto's head since Shikamaru looked like he was about to pass out on the spot because of Naruto's advances on him. Also, the sexual aura that was rolling off of Naruto was starting to make him feel awkward because he was standing right behind the two of them and could see something starting to rise. Naruto recovered from the hit and sent a glare at Iruka, Iruka sent one back with the same level of intensity, "its time for your test."

 

Naruto sighed but nodded, "fine," he said before turning back to Shikamaru and winked, "I'll catch you later, babe." 

 

Shikamaru's face was completely red as his mind was assaulted with images of the night before. He could barely speak, Naruto chuckled and walked away with Iruka following him. Shikamaru watched them go into the testing room before he leaned heavily on the wall, trying to slow down his racing heart and growing boner. "Uuh, son, are you alright?"Came a voice from behind him, which nearly gave him a heart attack.

 

Shikamaru slowly turned his head behind him, "I-I-I d-don't k-know d-d-dad?" He said before passing out on the floor, luckily Shikku caught him before he fell and his skirt exposed his little secret.

 

 

 

**To be continued...**

 

 


	5. The Apprentice Test

"Hinata Hyuuga...I would like you to become my new apprentice."

 

It had been a few hours since the end of the genin exams. Naruto, of course, passed with flying colors. Instead of doing the plain old clone jutsu that was learned, he did the shadow clone jutsu and blew the other teachers away. And since the Hokage was in the room with them, they could not try to make up some lie about a loophole or some other shit like that. So Naruto was now a full-fledged genin. Soon to be married. Soon to be a father. Is taking on his first apprentice, ever. And that apprentice so happened to be Hinata, who was unable to possess what her long-time crush was saying to her, but she did note that she wasn't so nervous around him right now. It was as if her feelings for the blond over the years had seemingly disappeared, or rather, melted down into a feeling of respect than just admiration.  After Naruto had passed his test, he invited her and Shikamaru over to his place, Shikaku and Yoshino were not allowed to come because Naruto didn't exactly trust them yet. Shikaku could see why that was, it wasn't like he was bending over backward to be kind to the boy in the time before finding out his heritage. No, he had been like the rest and either hated him or ignored him, so Naruto's reaction was warranted. After they left, Naruto decided that he would shushen Hinata back to his home along with Shikamaru. once they got there, he made some clones to make them some food while they talked. While he was doing that, Hinata was marveling at how grand Naruto's new home was, she wondered if he built it himself, or if his parents had let him stay here on his own after becoming a genin. Her thoughts had been interrupted when Naruto spoke, telling her that she would be his apprentice. She was still stunned and didn't know what to say.

 

"W-w-what do you m-mean by, your a-apprentice?" She asked confused.

 

"It's just like I said, I want you to become my apprentice, what part did you not understand?" Naruto asked as if it was the most normal thing in the world to make people your apprentice at twelve years old. Then again, they were ninjas now, so eventually, they would have been taking on that kind of roll at some point in life. Naruto just thought that Hinata would benefit by getting the role sooner rather than later.

 

Shikamaru sighed,  _"was he always like this? Oh man, if I wasn't carrying his kid, I would want to straighten him out his thinking. Troublesome,"_ he thought with a sigh, "Naruto, I think what she meant was,  _why_ are you making her your apprentice." 

 

"Oh, that so? Okay, well, let's so, how do I put this?..." Naruto thought over his next words carefully, "okay, got it. I want you to be my apprentice because you have the  _eyes of the seeker,_ but more importantly, you will be able to overcome the power struggle going on in your own clan. That will be your first task, actually."

 

Hinata was still a little confused but could see that he meant business, she looked down at her lap. "But how can I do that when I'm so weak?... Even father is considering putting Hanabi in my place as heir to the clan, if he does that, then I will be disowned."

 

"Tsk," Naruto clicked his teeth as he looked at Hinata. He was not happy with this answer, he got up from his pot at the table and brought down his hand in a chopping motion over Hinata's head hard enough to make her bow to the floor. Shikamaru was shocked that Naruto would hit a girl, and Hinata was just a shock, if not more. She wondered if her answer made him reconsider his offer to her just now, but when she looked up, she saw a frightening look in his eyes, it was one of deep hate and anger. It scared her deeply. Naruto folded his arms over his chest as he glared down at her, "no apprentice of mine will talk like some helpless weakling that doesn't know how to take care of her own!" Hinata's eyes widened at his words, "I picked you, not because you are from a noble clan, but because you were different from those stuck-up asses in your clan," he said heatedly. _"Especially that Neji brat, he may be one year older than me, but he is still a piece of shit when it comes to his attitude."_  Just then, an idea come to his head, he smirked, "no, wait, I have a better idea."

 

Hinata looked up at Naruto from her bowed position, she wasn't sure how much she would like this new Naruto. But, he was taking her on as an apprentice, that meant that he saw something in her that would make her shine as brightly as her sister does in their father's eyes. So, she respected him and would make sure not to disappoint him after he's already put so much faith in her already. "Uh, um, N-Naruto...I-I...I'll do my best...Master!"

 

Naruto cocked an eyebrow, "first of all, you can stop with all that 'Master' bullshit, just call me sensei, okay?" Hinata looked up at him again, he was already sitting back down in his old spot with his right arm resting on his knee. "Second, I'm changing your first task to something else. Sit up so I can tell you what it is. I don't feel like talking to the back of someone's head." 

 

Hinata sat up straight as if she was speaking with her father, but this time, she wouldn't be trying not to cry during one of his lectures. A lecture on how she was too soft and was degrading the clan because of her weakness. "I'm ready...sensei," she felt a little weird calling him her teacher, but right now. In this moment. She could feel the knowledge and power rolling off of him in droves.

 

"Good, there is a certain someone that I want you to bring to me. You should know him, his name is Neji Hyuuga," Naruto explained.

 

"My cousin?" Hinata she asked.

 

"Oh, so he's your cousin, eh?" Naruto asked he smirked, "then you should have no problem getting him to me, right?"

 

Shikamaru watched Naruto carefully, he wasn't sure how, but he could already tell what he wanted with Neji. It would most likely be the same thing that he wanted with him, "hey, Naruto, why do you want him so bad? Can't you just get anyone?"

 

Naruto looked at Shikamaru and chuckled, "so you guessed? I guess it was to be expected, you are a Nara after all, worthy of your salt. Anyways, I should explain it to you both before I tell the plan." He turned to the table and leaned both elbows on top, his fingers were clasped in front of his face. "A couple years ago, I met Neji for the first time when I was only five. At first, he was alright, though he was a bit formal, he was polite and kind, better than I would have thought of a Hyuuga before. But then, a few months after meeting him, he changed, I haven't a clue on why that was at the time, but I knew, something must have happened to him. I knew it had to be something big because he no longer smiled anymore. It wasn't too much longer than I found out, on my own, that his father had passed away. I thought that it was odd, Neji's father was healthy and happy, how could he suddenly die like that? I thought to myself, and the only other explanation I could come up with was that someone had killed him and covered it up. With some doing, I had found some stuff that I didn't like, I tried to tell Neji what I found, but by that time, he had a major character change. I thought he had become someone completely new." Naruto leaned his head down on his clasped hands and sighed deeply, "ever since then, he had become ruined, his attitude aggravated me to no end, always thinking that he was better. People started to call him a genius of his clan, while I thought he was only a poser."

 

"What? Why? How can you say that when Neji-nee had worked his butt every day training to get where he is now!?" Hinata asked Neji may not treat her well most of the time. HIs anger against the main house wasn't helping the matter either. Yet, through all of that, Hinata found herself still respecting her big brother figure to this day. 

 

Naruto shook his head and looked at her, "that doesn't matter now. Now, what I want you t do is for you to bring him to me so that I can put him in the correct place."

 

"Huh?" Shikamaru spoke up, "what do you mean, 'put him in the correct place'? I get that the guy is arrogant, but why-"

 

"Because his attitude will get him hurt one day. Maybe even killed. I can't let that happen." Naruto stated, he leaned back on his arms and looked up at the detailed designs surrounding the sunroof. "I have already decided that he will be my next wife if I don't get him now, then I may not be able to rain him in so easily later."

 

Both Shikamaru and Hinata stayed silent after that. They both thought of what Naruto had said and wasn't sure what else to think. As the clones brought out the food, Hinata also made up her mind, "alright." Naruto glanced at her as he picked up his chopsticks, "I...I'm not sure why, but...but my gut is telling me that this may be for the best, so I'll do as you say."

 

Naruto chuckled, "hold on, hold on..." he pointed his chopsticks at her, "you still need to get stronger before you go trying to do something like that, y'know. Neji's not the type to come around so easily, and I can already tell that you lose a lot of the fights that the two of you are in. if it's not physical, then it's mental. I will not have you losing another fight again, at least not to a genin, for now." He stabbed a dumpling with his chopsticks and brought it close to his mouth, "starting tomorrow, I'll be training you personally. You will not eat or sleep until you have accomplished everything I have told you. If you lose hope easily, then I suggest that you strengthen your resolve tonight, because you won't have time for anything else when we start." He took a bite of the dumpling, "Ah, it will take us about seven years to get you ready, so be prepared."

 

"Seven years!" Hinata asked a little alarmed, "would I really need that much work?" She asked a little dishearted as she looked down at her plate of riceballs.

 

"Yeah, Naruto, seven years seems a little excessive. Plus, we have team placements coming up soon," Shikamaru commented.

 

"Nah, nah, when I say seven years, I mean you will train for seven years." Naruto explained as he stabbed another dumpling with his fork, "but, those seven years will only fit into seven days. So if you train for one day, that will equal one year, it won't feel like a day until the end. But, I'm sure that I can come up with something to make the time fly by so that you won't notice."

 

Shikamaru sweatdropped his baby daddy's explanation, he shook his head and looked at Hinata, "I guess you should go home and pack some clothes since you'll be here for a while."

 

Hinata nodded, but Naruto waved his hand, "no, there's no need for that. If she goes home now, then that bastard will try to make her stay and keep eyes on her at all times so that he can make sure that she doesn't get stronger or feel too free. I think it would be best if she didn't go home for a whole," he folded his arms in front of him as if ending the argument right there.

 

"Oh come on now Naruto, now you're just being troublesome, wouldn't her father come looking for her once they see she's not coming home at the end of the day?" Shikamaru asked he was starting to wonder more and more what trick Naruto had up his sleeves.

 

"No, well yes, they will come looking. But I can guarantee that they will not be able to find this place even with their dojutsu active. If they even try to look in the same direction of this place, the only thing that they would see is a regular forest with the usual suspects involved with that setting. Anything remotely related to a building or structure connecting to this location will not be seen. This house was built with a special seal in the walls, ceiling, floors, and the surrounding area has them too. The only way to get in would be through me. If you are leaving and I have not identified you as a friend, then your memory of your time spent here will be lost. It's apart of the seal that was placed in the construction of this place long ago." Naruto took a sip of his tea, "but since you too are my dear wife and student, I have already allowed you both to keep your memories of your time here, don't worry."

 

Shikamaru frowned, "don't you mean fiance? We're not even married yet," he commented as he brought his teacup to his lips. The cup did well to hide his slight blush, but not well enough to keep Naruto from noticing.

 

Said blond smirked, "oooh, so Shika-chan is embarrassed to get married so soon, ne? My, whatever shall I do about your wedding dress? Should I redesign it to suit my blushing bride?" 

 

Shikamaru nearly choked on his drink, he snapped his head to Naruto so fast that Hinata almost thought he got whiplash. "Shut up Naruto! And stop making fun of me!"

 

"Ne, ne, but it's so fun to make fun of Shika-chan! You look so cute when yo-"

 

"Shut up!" Shikamaru said, his cheeks getting a darker shade of red since Hinata was watching them. He felt embarrassed to talk about something so personal in front of her, "oh man, what a drag. What have I gotten myself into?"

 

Hinata looked between Naruto and Shikamaru. She could already see them as a married couple, just add a baby and they would be picture perfect. Their arguing was cute and she liked the way that they were so open about their relationship in front of her. In her clan, everything was so formal and stiff that she sometimes thought that she was in some kind of factory, the way everyone in the main branch moved, it was almost automatic, robotic. How could they get anywhere in life when they looked like plastic dolls? Now that she was seeing the two like this, she couldn't help but think about a time when she was younger and her parents used to argue at the table too, the same things that Naruto said to Shikamaru, her father said to her mother. The same things that Shikamaru tried to say back to him, her mother did to her father. Although the two situations were different when it came to formality, it was the same in the mood, she remembered feeling happy in those times before Hanabi was born and her mother died. After that, her father had become miserable, always putting her down for some reason, even when her other clan members said that she looked so much like her mother, she had hoped that was not the reason why he took out most of his anger on her. She sighed, and of course, Neji had to join her father in putting her down constantly whenever he saw her. Hanabi was starting to do the same thing too, it was a cycle...a cycle that she wanted to break.

 

"I see you found it," Naruto said softly, it was almost low enough that she barely heard.

 

"Found what?" Hinata asked, caught off guard by his words.

 

Naruto turned to her and smiled, "your resolve." 

 

 

 

**To be continued...**


	6. New home

It's already the next day and Hinata wasn't sure what to expect. Naruto had let her stay in one of his many guest rooms, Hinata was surprised by how many bedrooms were in the house, she almost got lost when she was trying to get a drink of water that night. Luckily for her, Naruto had his clones patrolling the hallways at night, they got her the water and guided her back to her room. The room in question was lovely, it was more to her taste than her actual room, which was plain, the only thing she had to decorate her room were pictures of her and her mom. She had taken any pictures with her dad in them and tore his image out of each one, making sure to not damage the rest of the image, at first, when she was done, she felt a little bad about what she did. But then when she saw him at breakfast the next morning, he gave her his usual lecture on how she should be strong like Hanabi and it was a shame to have the heir of their clan be beaten by a member of the branch family. So, in the end, she was happy that she did it. From then on, any picture she got with her father in them, she would simply take him out of the picture, literally. This room that she was currently using, was painted a light lavender color with white and pink assents, she loved that the bed was a queen size, it was so soft that she fell asleep almost as soon as her head hit the pillow. There was a dresser on the far wall between two windows that looked out onto the courtyard, displaying the large swimming pool and guardian area beautifully. She had two nightstands on either side of the bed, a purple lamp with a pink princess shade over it. Next to the bathroom door was a vanity mirror that showed three sides of the person sitting there, there was also a full-length mirror next to that, and a walk-in closet in between them. The room also had a small bench painted white with some pink floral decorations, next to that was a wide bookcase with many books. The windows had been covered with pink and white currants which she had pulled away from the window to see outside, she opened the window and was hit with the smell of fresh flowers and grass. She was standing at the window looking out when there was a knock on her door, she almost forgot that she was in someone else's home, thinking that this place was her home. Well, it was her dream home at least, she dreaded the day she had to say goodbye to it and go back to her clan's compound, where she didn't feel at home at all. 

 

"Come it!" She called out when the knock on the door came again, pulling her from her thoughts.

 

The door opened and Shikamaru walked in holding towels and some change of clothes. "Morning Hinata, Naruto sent me to give you these. Towels and the training clothes that e wanted you to wear." He said as he put the items down on the vanity, "I have no idea why, but he insisted that you wear them in order, starting from blue and ending with red." He explained to her as he lay out the clothes, there were four colors in all, blue, green, yellow, and red. Naruto didn't tell him why there was only four when he said he would take seven days to train Hinata, he didn't bother to think about how those seven days would translate into seven years worth of training though. He turned around to Hinata to get her reaction, he saw her staring at him in awe, his cheeks burned red a little bit as he tried to cover himself, "what? What's the matter?" He asked shyly.

 

"Oh, I'm sorry, Shikamaru, but you look really pretty in your dress. I could barely take my eyes off of you," Hinata explained honestly, making Shika's cheeks get even redder.

 

In truth, the dress that Shikamaru was somewhat forced to wear today, was one of Naruto's selections. It was light green, sleeveless, and short. As in, it barely reached above his knees, instead, it reached just below his midthigh. The bottom of the dress flared out a little as if it was meant for a little girl to wear, while still being flirty, and if that wasn't bad enough, it had white lace around the bottom and armholes. The dress was designed in a way that it showed off some of his back, while still covering it in the same lace design as the rest of the dress. His hair was still down like yesterday, but Naruto had managed to somehow curl it so it looked like a dark flowing river. Another thing that Naruto managed to do, was to get Shikamaru some earrings in the shape of stars, but Shika declined them, for now at least. His family tradition was for him to wear his father's earnings once he became genin, so he would uphold that for as long as he could with Naruto around. "Uh, yeah, thanks," he started walking towards the door, "breakfast is on the table, so you can come and get it when you're done. If you get lost again, just let one of the clones guide you there," he walked out and closed the door behind him, he wasn't really waiting for an answer. He was too embarrassed with his feminine appearance to stay.  

 

Hinata giggled, "I'll just get ready then, wouldn't want to keep them waiting." She smiled as she took a towel into the bathroom with her, looking around, she could tell that a lot of work went into making the bathroom as well. There was a bathhouse styled bath in the center of the room, big enough to fit six people, there were three showers on the left side of the room, and a door on the far right. The door turned out to be another, smaller room that contained the toilet. "How was he able to get all of this done without anyone noticing?" She wondered to herself.

 

* * *

 

**Dining room, North wing**

 

Shikamaru walked into the dining room accompanied by one of Naruto's clones. The clone had a firm grip on his arm so he couldn't run away, the real Naruto was sitting at the dining table having some tea. "Shikamaru? What's the matter?" He asked as he turned to see the unhappy look on his wife's face.

 

Shikamaru ripped his arm out of the clone's grip, the clone didn't bother to hold him anymore seeing as how he had already done his part in bringing him here. The clone walked away casually as if nothing ever happened, Shikamaru glared at the clone's back before turning to the real Naruto. He folded his arms in front of his chest, "Naruto, I know I said that I would be with you and all that, but...can you tell me why I have to dress like a girl all the time?!"

 

Naruto smiled at him, "because I thought you looked so cute in this dress. And I was right! Besides, I don't want our kid to have to guess who's the mommy all the time."

 

Shikamaru got a tick mark on his forehead, "they wouldn't need to guess because it would be obvious on who that person would be."

 

"Hm, yeah, I guess you're right. But, I've already got more than half of your new wardrobe put away anyway, so what's the point in making a whole new one now?" Naruto commented oblivious to Shikamaru's distress.

 

"What's th-well can I at least have my regular under back instead of going commando in this dress?" Shikamaru asked blushing, he tried to pull the dress down a little more in the front, "I can feel a breeze everytime I walk. It's uncomfortable and- HEY!" He shouted when Naruto came over to him and lifted the back of his dress up, Shikamaru jumped away from him and tried to keep both of his front and back side covered at the same time. "What do you think you're doing!"

 

Naruto had a thoughtful look on his face, "well, I guess I could give you some short or something when you're going off on a mission. I wouldn't want just anyone looking at those delicious buns," he said seriously. Shikamaru's blush got deeper, Naruto smirked, "it's too bad that you can't wear things like these on missions, I would really like to see how you would fight in it."

 

"O-okay, t-that's it! I-I'm not going to stand for this anymore, either you treat me with some respect, or I'll-" Shikamaru started.

 

"Or you'll, what?" Naruto asked, stepping closer to Shikamaru, his smirk getting bigger. He leaned in closer to Shikamaru's face, letting their lips just barely touch, he could tell from the look in Shikamaru's eyes that he was dazed, most likely caught up in an unintentional daydream about him. He chuckled, "thought so."

 

Shikamaru grumbled, "whatever, pervert."

 

* * *

**Ten minutes later**

 

Hinata walked out of the bedroom and followed the smell of food into the dining room. Where she saw...

 

 

**To be continued...**


	7. The Apprentice Test 2

**Last time...**

 

He chuckled, "thought so."

 

Shikamaru grumbled, "whatever, pervert."

 

* * *

**Ten minutes later**

 

Hinata walked out of the bedroom and followed the smell of food coming from the dining room. Where she saw...

 

**Now...**

 

"No, stop, not there!" Moaned a blushing Shikamaru, "wha-what if...what if Hinata was to walk in and see us?"

 

Naruto chuckled, "so what if she did? Hinata's like most girls, right? They'll take a long time in the bathroom just to come out looking like they didn't do anything at all in th, here. Or they'll look like they got a bunch of face paint on. With that said, we'll have lots of time to kill, so relax, okay?" He leaned down and placed a lasting kiss on Shikamaru's lips, "or are you just embarrassed to be held by your new husband?"

 

Shikamaru's cheeks burned red, "n-n-no, i-i-it's not that...I just..."

 

"Eh? You've got lots of doubt while others are in the house. You're even making this cute face that's turning me on," Naruto licked his lips, "maybe I should bring people over more often, ne?" He let one of his hands dip under Shikamaru's dress and slide up between his legs, "hmm, what's this? It seems like you're already hard," he grinned as he watched Shikamaru blush get deeper. "Looks like you can't help yourself either, huh, that's okay though," he pushed both Shikamaru's legs apart and got between them, he grinned their groins together, "we can always help each other out with that."

 

"Ahem"

 

.

 

.

 

.

 

.

 

The two boys on the ground looked up at Hinata who was standing in the doorway of the dining room. Hinata looked back at them, a small blush playing on her cheeks as she tried not to be embarrassed by what she was seeing. After a few tense moments of silence, Naruto finally spoke, "so I see you got the clothes that Shika-chan was supposed to give you..."

 

Hinata nodded, "yes, I did. They fit very comfortably too," she said, the tension in the air was still present. Especially since Naruto was still in between Shikamaru's legs, the said person also wasn't wearing any underwear as mentioned in the previous chapter. Hinata looked away from Shikamaru's exposed bum to look over at where the food was starting to come out from the kitchen, hot and ready, it filled the room with the smell of steaming goodness. "Ah, the food smells wonderful! Shall we eat?" 

 

"Food?" Naruto looked at her funny, as if he was trying to remember something from before, then the smells of the room brought him back to his senses. "Oh! The food!" He pushed himself off os Shikamaru and helped his blushing bride to a suitable sitting position. "There, we must all be hungry by now, so let's all sit down and eat, we have a busy day ahead of us after all!" He spoke with a bright smile as he started serving himself to the wide array of food on the table. Once his plate was piled high with food, he passed it over to Hinata, who had been just sitting herself down at the table across from the new couple. She was surprised at the speed he used to get all the food onto one plate, it almost resembled a small mountain. 

 

"Um, what's with all this food?" Hinata asked.

 

"It's for energy." Naruto said setting the overly filled plate down in front of her, "this food is going to last you through seven days where we're going, so you better savor every last bite of it." He looked at HInat seriously, "you understand, right?"

 

She nodded, "yes, of course, you and your clones worked hard on this meal, I would never let it go to waste!" Hinata bowed her head slightly to show respect, "thank you for showing me so much kindness, I don't know how I could repay you."

 

Naruto placed a hand under Hinata's chin so that she had no choice but to look up at him. "There's no thanks necessary for this. All you've got to do is to just get stronger and stronger. Never hold back. Don't let others get in the way of your dreams. And don't let me down after I spend so much time training you. It's the lest you can do after all," he said with a bright smile that seemed to say more than it was letting on. Hinata felt a cold sweat run down her back. "So eat up, you're going to need all your strength to get through this."

 

"Yes!" Hinata nodded as she turned to her food. She looked at it and sighed,  _"suddenly I feel like I don't know what I got myself into..."_

 

 

* * *

 

**After breakfast**

 

 

Hinata managed to eat everything that Naruto had put on her plate. Even though it was all very delicious, she ate more than what she usually would at breakfast, and this was making her sluggish now. Since eating a lot of food would usually make a person sleepy soon after anyways. Naruto turned back to Hinata when he heard a yawn from behind him, "eh? Tired already? We've only just begun," he stated as they continued walking through the forest.

 

"No, no, I think I just ate too much food. I'll be alright," Hinata said trying to keep herself from falling asleep where she stood.  _"Even though the meal was so good, it was way too much. Now I feel bad that I won't be able to do Naruto's training now. I really don't want to let him down after he was so kind to me by letting me spend the night at his wonderful home. Okay, that settles it, no matter what comes next, I will make him proud to have chosen me as his student!"_ With her mind made up, Hinata quicked her pace to catch up with Naruto and Shikamaru.

 

Meanwhile, Shikamaru could only frown at the situation. He got a feeling like he was going to be witnessing something very troublesome soon and won't be able to tell anyone about it. It wasn't a sure feeling as of yet, but one of those things that comes to the back of your mind, it was troublesome all the same. He sighed, "so Naruto, where exactly are we going to be doing this training of yours? You never did say," he said turning to Naruto.

 

Naruto smirked, "you'll see soon enough," then he quickens his pace so that he was in front of this little group. He looked around to see an open clearing surrounded by trees off in the distance, it wasn't all that wide for training, but it would do. He walked over to it, walking into the center and looking around, when the other two came into the clearing as well, he nodded his head. "Here, this is where we'll start."

 

Shikamaru and Hinata looked around the clearing, "hold on Naruto, this place isn't big enough to be a training spot. There's not enough space to run around or-"

 

"I didn't say that we would be doing the training here, did I?" Naruto commented, "I simply said that this spot was perfect."

 

Shikamaru and Hinata looked at each other, wondering the same thing,  _"perfect for what?"_

 

This time Hinata spoke up, "what are we going to do here?" 

 

Naruto grinned and placed his bag down in front of him. "This place is marked by one of my marks, I had forgotten which place I had put it, but then I remembered this place wasn't too far from where we were living now. So since we were close by to this one, we didn't have to risk going to my other marked sits." He took out some chalk from his back and started drawing a circle on the ground. When he was done, he stepped back from it and clapped his hands before slamming it onto the circle's design, as soon as his hands touched the design, the circle glowed a dark, ominous color until a single beam of black light came shooting from the center. The light shot up into the sky for a moment before disappearing without a trace, the clearing was silent for a few seconds before that same light came back into view. It was hovering over the circle one meter off the ground in a small sphere-like form, it started to turn, around and around as it got bigger and bigger. When the spinning ball was about half the size of the clearing, it stopped growing, standing still over the circle, as if it was waiting for its next command. Naruto stood up from his spot and walked around the giant sphere, " _this_ is where we'll be training."

 

"That?" Shikamaru asked, "what is that thing?"

 

"This is called Ramru, he's the gatekeeper I assigned to guard the Nex Rem, a place I created when I was much younger. I know that this will only fly over your heads, for now, so I'll explain it better at some other time. All you really need to know about the Nex Rem is that I can travel there whenever I want, for however long I want. I can take people with me, but only those that I have complete faith in. Ramu here is also connected to me, so he will know how I feel about you the moment that you step into him." Naruto explained as he turned to the giant sphear, Shikamaru and Hinata turned to the sphear as well and was shocked to see that it now had eyes! And it was looking at them, "Ramu, sorry for waking you up buddy, but I need to get to the shadow realm in the Nex Rem so I can train her," he pointed to Hinata behind him. Ramu's eyes followed Naruto's finger and fell onto Hinata. He stared at her for a while before his eyes turned back to Naruto, there was silence in the clearing for a while until Naruto started chuckling.  "Yes I'm sure...of course she's a girl!... What? No, that's not going to happen this time!" He started laughing heartily while Shikamaru and Hinata could only stare at him and the giant sphere.

 

"Hey, do you know what's going on here?" Hinata whispered to Shikamaru low enough so only he could hear.

 

Shikamaru shook his head slowly, "I'm just as lost as you are in all of this," he whispered back. "But, from what I'm seeing, that sphear thing is going to take us to some place that Naruto built, so we might have a better chance of surviving if we're nice to it. We don't know what that thing is capable of after all."

 

"Yeah, you're right," Hinata nodded. The two stood there watching Naruto have a one-sided conversation with the sphere,  _"I guess when he said that they were connected, he really meant that he could read its mind?"_

 

Naruto suddenly turned to Hinata, "oi, Hinata, come here for a moment."

 

"Uh, um, s-sure," she said as she walked over to Naruto and Ramru, "what is it?" She asked curiously, she wasn't sure she liked being so close up to Ramu, there was something about it that made her feel uneasy.

 

Naruto put a firm hand on Hinata's shoulder, "stand still, okay?" He told her, "Ramru here want's to get some info on you."

 

"U-uh, o-okay, sure, I can do that." Hinata nodded to the blond before turning her full attention towards the spear. The uneasy feeling from before was getting stronger and stronger with each passing second. She stared up at Ramu's eyes and it stared back at her, its eyes were slanted in a way that made it look like it was bord. As if nothing in the world could interest it. The way that it stared at Hinata made her feel as if she was nothing more than a piece of paper floating in the wind, or maybe like she was not very important, so he was looking past her instead of at her. She didn't know which it was, but she knew that she didn't like it very much. Suddenly Ramru closed his eyes before opening them wide, staring at Hinata intensely, a dark purple light suddenly appeared from its eyes and washed over Hinata's body, making her look like she was in the spotlight. Hinata was taken aback by the sudden light around her, but she was unable to move, the air around her became thin and her body felt like it was on fire. Her eyes hurt, her skin burned, and all the bones in her body felt like they were constantly breaking and rebuilding themselves. The pain was so intense that she felt the need to run away, smash her head into rocks, peel her skin off, something that would make the pain she was feeling stop for good. But she was unable to move. Unable to speak, so she could not scream out her pain, she could not tell the sphear to stop what it was doing. She could not beg it to spear her from this agony. She could only stand there and take it. Feeling like the pain could not get any worse, the light around her intensified and so did her pain. Her eyes now felt like they were slowly being ripped from her head. Like every cell in her body was made out of needles meant to hurt her for as long as she drew breath. And her bones felt like they were being ground into dust inside of her. The pain was too much for one person to handle, but yet she could not make a sound, could not move an inch out of the light, so she stood there, wishing for it all to end. 

 

As Hinata stood under that dark light, Shikamaru could feel a turning in his stomach. It didn't hurt, the feeling only made him sick. Looking at Hinata under the light, he felt as if, somehow, she was screaming out in pain and couldn't do anything to stop it herself. He could feel her pain. But he didn't know how. He didn't know how he knew that she was in pain, but he just knew, and that was enough to make his stomach upset. He looked at Naruto, he wasn't doing anything more than just watching it all happen. But why? Shikamaru moved to take a step in his direction, to run up to him and make him stop this, whatever it was, from happening to her. Hinata was in pain, and he didn't want to see his friends in pain. _"That's funny, when did I start thinking of her as more than just a classmate?"_ He wondered to himself, but before he could think more on that, the light surrounding Hinata turned black and he felt his stomach reach up towards his throat. He had to stop this.

 

But before he could even make a move, Naruto called out to him. "Stay right there, Shikamaru." Shikamaru looked over at Naruto, he had a serious expression on his face as he stared at the light. 

 

"How can you just stand there and watch this? Can't you hear her screaming in pain?!" Shikamaru called out to him, even though no one could hear any actual screaming going on, the feeling of pain and horror from within that dark light was overwhelming. There was no mistaking it, the pain that Hinata was in must have been unimaginable at the moment. For a second, he thought that she would go mad if someone didn't get her out of there soon. But again, Naruto stopped him from moving from his spot, "why!"

 

"It needs to be done!" Naruto said simply.

 

"What? BUT WHY? Can't you see?" Shikamaru asked he was close to tears as the feeling of pain got heavier, "what is this meant to do for her?"

 

Naruto put his head down so that his eyes were covered by his long bangs, Shikamaru noticed that his fist was clenched tightly to his sides. "Do not come any closer," he said in a low voice, a voice that commanded respect and abeyance. "You have already been exposed way too much to this and it's already affected you. Stay there, or else you'll die from the radiation," he looked up at Shikamaru with eyes that looked as sharp as knives, but a looked that seemed to be pleading with him. "I don't want to witness two deaths today."

 

"Deaths?" Shikamaru took a step back, "what do you mean-"

 

Suddenly, the light around Hinata engulfed her. She disappeared within its deaths as if the light itself was taking her away. By now, ll Hinata could think about was the pain that she had been enduring up until now. It hurt, it hurt so much that the word 'hurt' was not enough to describe it. But now, the feeling of death was heavy in the air around her and she found herself accepting it with open arms. _"No more pain,"_   where her only thought, she closed her eyes for a second and saw her life flashing before her eyes. The time when she happened when her mother was still alive when her sister was born, she was so happy then. But then her mother died and her father turned her sister against her. Every day felt like a struggle, _"why did things have to change?"_ She wondered, no one smiled at her anymore, it was always a frown or a sneer in her direction, in a lot of ways, it felt almost like the pain she was going through now, but not as bad. Sure those things hurt her, but what she was feeling now was more than the just simple pain that could go away by stepping away from the thing that was hurting her. No, this feeling will forever be ingrained in her psyche for as long as she lived.  _"Yes...I'll never forget..."_ Just then, the light was gone and Hinata's body came crashing to the ground.

 

Shikamaru watched her fall, he hesitantly took a step towards her but then looked to Naruto, wondering if he would stop him again. When he didn't say anything, Shikamaru ran over to Hinata and dropped his back to the ground next to him. He may not have been trained as a medic, but he did now a thing or two about healing and herbs. He turned Hinata over, looking for scratches, bruises, burns, anything that would cause her any amount of pain. When he didn't find anything physical, he decided that it must have been some sort of trick. He could feel that she was still in pain, but he didn't know where that pain was coming from, or why he was feeling it through her. "That doesn't matter, I have to help her the best I can," he looked inside his first kit that was in his bag, trying to see what he could use from it. There wasn't anything. 

 

Naruto shook his head as he let out a breath. "That won't do," he walked over to Shikamaru and Hinata, he picked up Hinata's body and lifted it over his shoulder. He turned to Ramu, "come on Shikamaru, let's get going."

 

"Huh? What? You're still going through with her training even after all that's happened?" Shikamaru asked, shocked that the blond would even do such a thing.

 

Naruto kept his back towards Shikamaru so he couldn't see his face. "Like I said, it needed to be done," he put his hand out in front of him as if he was opening a door, "now come on. We need to get going," he took a step forward, he was about to walk through Ramru, but Shikamaru spoke.

 

"I'm not going."

 

.

 

.

 

.

 

.

 

"Why?"

 

"Do you think that I can actually follow someone that is willing to hurt others in order to get what they want?"

 

The wind blew through the clearing, enhancing the heavy silence that fell over the clearing. "If you think that I would willingly kill my precious student..." he turned back to Shikamaru, "then you don't know me at all." He stepped forward and disappeared into the black abyss that Rmru contained, all the while, Shikamaru was staring at him. The conviction in his eyes was unmistakable. Shikamaru found himself standing up automatically and quickly followed Naruto into the black void, his bag still in hand as he went. Once the clearing was devoid of visible people, the spear known as Ramru slowly started to shrink back into a small ball, its eyes still in its board state like before. He was almost to its original size when the sound of leaves moving in the distance was heard, Ramu's eyes darted towards the sound in time to see the leaves moving as if the wind swayed it. But there was no wind...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**To Be Continued...**


	8. The Apprentice Test: Lesson 1- 5

**Shadow Realm**

 

Arriving at their desired destination, Naruto laid Shikamaru down on the ground with Hinata and took off his backpack. Naruto sighed when they were walking through the passageway to get to this point, Shikamaru passed out halfway, so Naruto had to carry him. He looked the two over and shook his head, "I told him not to get too close to Hinata, but he didn't listen. Only I can withstand the radiation caused by Ramu's 'Judgement Beam', people like Shikamaru can't handle it because of his inexperience and his condition." He sighed and shook his head, "oh well, we're here now, no use in crying over spilled milk." There was a sound behind him that made him turn around. "Hm? Is that you, Hiki?"

 

"Hai, it's me, boss. I cam just like you asked," a figure came out from the shadows and bowed down on one knee before Naruto. He was tall with jade green eyes, dark rose colored hair and fair skin. He wore a red, male school uniform that indicated that he was still in high school or middle, although, he did not wear shoes. When he looked up at Naruto, Naruto noticed something about his eyes, something strange, but he ignored it for later and turned back to Shikamaru and Hinata. "What can I do for you today, boss?"

 

"These two are very important...subjects in an ongoing project that I'm testing out. I am looking forward to testing them, but for now, it seems that this girl here has managed to survive Ramu's judgment beam without dying in the allotted five minutes like the others. While this one next to here is pregnant and got too close after the beam was finished with her." He looked back at the boy known as Hiki, "I need you to make sure that these two don't die on me. I spent more than enough time in that sinking backwash village to let good subjects go like that, understood?"

 

The boy nodded, "Hai, boss, I will do my best."

 

Naruto watched the boy bow his head to him for a while, waiting for his permission to treat the two. "Hmph, don't disappoint me," he turned away from his student and soon-to-be wife, walking passed Hiki without a second thought or goodbye. "I'll be in the usual place, come when it's done."

 

"Hai, boss," Hiki looked up at the two laying on the ground once Naruto was finally out of sight. Hiki looked down at the two unconscious humans, he sneered. "For filth like the two of you to grace the boss's kind heart so easily...you must have some very tasty mana." Hiki licked his lips hungrily, for a brief moment, the glint of sharp teeth shinned out in the darkness before it was gone. Hiki walked over to the two bodies and looked them over, "let's get to work then..."

 

* * *

 

**Sometime later**

 

**_Dark Castel, Shadow Realm_ **

 

"Sensei, come out, I have somethings I want to ask about," Naruto called out into the stillness of the room he was in. It was an empty room that had black and gray tiled floors, tall, arched windows that showed a desert-like land, and a single chandelier hanging low in the center of the room. 

 

A mist of red smoke appeared under the chandelier, taking form and revealing Kurama in all of his human glory. "You rang, kit?" He asked with a mock bow for show, he chuckled when he was finished and folded his arms in front of him, "so, you've come here, eh? I saw that you left those to with that guy, are you sure that was wise? Your future mate, I understand, but as for you apprentice? Tsk, tsk, tsk..." he shook his head slowly, "I must say that you're crueler than I gave you credit for, kit," he smirked a slight grin and held his arms out wide, "just the way I taught you."

 

"I am glad I pleased you thus far, sensei. But, aside from that, I have questions to ask, if you don't mind," Naruto stated in a serious tone.

 

Kurama could see that his student was being uncharacteristically forward today. To ask for anything other than training when they get to the shadow realm is not like Naruto, or rather, this sort of thing does not happen enough to be a theme. Kurama nodded his head, "yes, I see. You must want to know more about that place. Fine, I'll tell you, it's hell on earth and shouldn't go, end of story."

 

Naruto was a little taken aback by the lack of information that his sensei willing to give him. This also usually doesn't happen. "But sensei, will you not at least tell me why I-"

 

"The answer is no," Kurama said seriously, he heaved a sigh and shook his head. "If I had known that this was the kind of thing that you wanted to put your new apprentice through, I would have trained you better."

 

"But sensei, you have trained me very well until now. You taught me so much, and I have been able to defend myself against the villagers and keep my cover...Why won't you tell me about it? Or at least...Why it's held every year at that place," Naruto asked, still determined.

 

"Hmph," Kurama turned around, turning his back on the blond. "No student of mine will put his life or the life of his own student in danger. Like I said before, that tournament is very dangerous. At least ten times worse than the chunin exams of years past. People that enter it don't just die in it, they are used, even in death to gain power. It is truly a monstrous thing to be held, and I should know since I have witnessed it myself." He turned his head so that he could look back at Naruto through the corner of his eye, "that is why, I will not allow you to take part in such a thing, even if I have to give my life to do so."

 

Naruto looked down at the tiled floors, his hands clenched into a fist. "But why? I was chosen, it has come to the time and I have been chosen." Kurama's eyes widened before he turned away from the blond, but Naruto was too focused on what he was saying to notice though. "If I don't take part in the tournament, then the family will be shamed and worse." He looked up at Kurama with sad and angry eyes, "if I don't take part, then my name will be tarnished and I would have lost everything I have been working towards up until now! Sensei, please!"

 

A long silence rest over the two beings in the room. It was so quiet that the sound of a pin dropping would not just echo throughout the room, it would boom its presents. "So...they have decided to have you take part this time around, eh?" Kurama clenched his fist, "those bastards..." He turned around to Naruto quickly, eyes blazing with red hot flames, a sign to show that he was more than pissed. "Very well then, consider today the first day of the end of your life! From this moment on, you train to die! No matter how much it hurts, how much time it takes, you will not back down from the training I am about to give you. If you do, then you might as well kill yourself right now, because if you don't then the worst pain of your life will not compare to what they will do to you in there when the time comes. And on that day, you must decide how badly you want to live, because they will not take it easy on you. Not even if you're just a kid! Understand!"

 

This struck a cord with Naruto, the rage, the determination. Naruto felt like he was about to walk head-on into the lions dead, and all the lines were hungry. He smirked, "yes, sensei, I understand!"

 

"No, you don't," Kurama growled as he got into Naruto's face. The flames in his eyes intensifying, "but you will learn soon enough." He stepped back and started walking away, "come. We have much to do be for October first arrives."

 

"Wait, October? You mean my birthday?" Naruto asked, thinking back on what Kurama had said before.

 

**Flashback**

 

_"...You are partly human until your thirteenth birthday arrives and the offer is made."_

_"What is this offer, sensei?"_

_"The offer...the chance to acquire a family of your own, however...since you are mostly human, a deal would be made between you and I. This deal is an offer to become either a half demon or a full demon...a half-demon would be able to take up to three or four mates...But, will get only one kekkai genki...The full demon, on the other hand, can have up to nine mates...and the happier they are, the more power you will get from them..._ _as for your other powers...the stronger you get, the easier it will be to detect. On your birthday, you will get to pick the kekkai genki that you want, either an existing one or a new one. Once you tell me about it, I will make it happen, but you can only pass down one at a time through your mates..."_

 

**Flashback end**

 

"You mean you're getting me ready for the ritual that will take place on my birthday?" Naruto asked.

 

Kurama stopped walking. Naruto could feel that there was something different about his sensei's aura. It felt sharper, more serious, and...protective? "Naruto..." He started, "for as long as you have known me, you have not feared me. For that, I am happy, but, there is something that you should know about me. I never used to be a fighter, but things happened in a way that I was forced to fight. Since that time, I fought senselessly, and even though I found that to be a way to survive for all these years, it was not a way for me to live. I never really had anything to fight for, and that is what made me weak...even now."

 

Naruto was shocked, "but sensei, you're strong! You took on a whole village, tumbled mountains with a wave of your tail. Kill-"

 

"And why did you think I did that, huh?" Kuinterruptedrpted him.

 

"..." Naruto was speechless.

 

"That's right, you don't know. No one actually knew. But still, to survive, to stay free, I needed to fight and win, it was the only way I felt like I was able to live how I wished. But since I have come to know you, you have shown me a lot of myself and how I used to be, and I have seen my mistake."

 

"Mistake?" Naruto was in awe that the being that he had respected and called sensei after all these years could ever make any mistakes.

 

"Yes, my mistake. It was in thinking that I had to fight everyone and everything in order to be free. I thought that keeping others away from me, thinking that I was better off alone was my geatest strength. But in reality, I was actually a very lonely fox. I didn't know when my darkness would end until I was finally captured and sealed away inside the body of a lowly human infant. You weren't any bigger than an inch of my claw and for that, I wanted to kill you. I thought that you were too weak to hold me back..." He chuckled a little, "funny, it seems that you have proven me wrong time and time again, eh, kit?"

 

Naruto hesitated at his sensei's words. They didn't really hurt him, but they did cut deep. It made him stop and think about everything about everything he had been doing. "Sensei, what...what are you trying to tell me?" 

 

Kurama took in a deep breath and let it out, "I guess what I was trying to say is, don't be like me. I was not aware of how lonely like could be when you fight for only yourself. But now that I have something new, I think I'll keep it for a while." He gave a small grin to Naruto before he turned back around to start walking again. Naruto wasn't sure how to incorporate this conversation, he had never been any good with dealing with emotions of any kind, so he was having a bit of trouble giving into what his sensei was trying to say to him. However, since he noted that his sensei was trying to tell him something important, he made up his mind to do the best he could so that he could never let his sensei down.

 

Kurama was the only person he had ever considered as family for as long as he could remember after all. If anything, Naruto would make damn sure that Kurama was bursting with pride by the time their training came to an end.  _"Just you watch, sensei, I'll show you that you didn't make any mistakes in training me."_

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To be continued...?

 

 


End file.
